


Little Animal

by Amanda908565



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: 1827, Abusive!Reborn, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depressed Tsuna, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts/Actions, Triggers, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2676410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amanda908565/pseuds/Amanda908565
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsuna is broken: mentally and physically. Self-harm, anxiety, even suicidal thoughts. It doesn't help when Reborn is hell-bent on taking his own frustrations out on him. See: beating him. So what happens when no one knows anything or notices? When a chance encounter leads to our favorite Cloud Guardian has to take care of Tsuna, who knows what happens? 1827</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey...this is the author here! We're here for an installment of some 1827...yes, that means it's Hibari and Tsuna.
> 
> Okay, so first things first. I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! if I did, well...lets just say that it could make a wonderful yaoi.
> 
> Second off, TRIGGER WARNING! SUCH A BIG TRIGGER WARNING. RIGHT FROM THE START. YOU WERE WARNED.

"Dame-Tsuna"

"No-good Tsuna"

"Useless Tsuna"

"Stupid Tsuna"

These were only a few of the names and things that he has been called for most of his life. He's heard the whispers in the hallways, in the streets, hell, he's even heard it when he was at home and his mother invited people over.

He needed help. He know he does, but he doesn't do anything to get it. Tsuna brought the razor down on the already marred flesh of his wrist. He watched the blood ooze out, dribbling out in crimson beads. Again, this one deeper. He repeats it three more times. It felt good to him, it made him feel like he was in control.

Right now, he was in the school bathroom, skipping lunch again. Tsuna doesn't remember the last time he's eaten. He held out his cut up wrist over the toilet, watching the blood drip from the sides of his arms down into the clear water of the toilet, tinting it a light shade of pink. Silent tears stream down his pale, gaunt face. The honey-brown orbs that use to hold a spark of innocence is gone now. Replaced with a dull shine and a lifeless look. No one has noticed though, because he still pretends to act the same way he always did. Putting on a smile and laughing, and acting the way he always use too, nobody should suspect anything, right? Gokudera and Yamamoto haven't suspected anything, or his mother, or the rest of his Guardians.

What was he going to do? He was getting worse. The amount of cuts have multiplied, the depth of the cuts as well. The anxiety attacks he's been haven't aren't getting any better, and he can't keep running and hiding to the nearest isolated area. Someone is bound to notice, and Tsuna doesn't want to burden whoever it was with his problems. With the monster that lies within him.

It's not just the bullying, no, that has always been there and he's learned to ignore most of it. It's the fact that he's expected to do such great thing as the Vongola Decimo. He's expected to become a great mafia boss, a leader, someone who makes important decisions. How could he be expected to fulfill all of these requirements when he can't fulfill anything for himself? When he can't even help himself?

It doesn't help that Reborn has started beating him.

Not the kind of everyday, "Stupid-Tsuna-man-up-kick-to-the-back-of-the-head", but just the uncalled for, "Reborn-taking-all-of-shit-out-on-Tsuna" kind of beating. Tsuna had tried to get him to stop, but Reborn threatened to kill his mother, I-Pin, Kyoko, Haru, and his Guardians. Tsuna couldn't have any of that happening, so he stayed quiet, took the beatings, acquired the bruises, took the verbal and physical abuse and tried to cope, but he couldn't. Not just Reborn's, but everybodies' words got to him and he just...broke.

Tsuna jumped when he heard the sharp ringing of the bell alerting everyone that they are to be in their next class in four minutes.

"Oh, no," he murmured, blood still pulsing out of his cuts. They stung, but it was a pleasant sting. He tried to quickly grab the toilet paper, but his movements were slowed and sluggish. After successfully ripping a piece of toilet paper off, Tsuna sloppily tried to stop the blood flow but just ended up making more of a mess. Tsuna grabbed more toilet paper, and he jumped again when he heard the bell ring for the second ring. He cursed under his breath, Gokudera and Yamamoto will notice his absence and will probably come searching for him. There was too much blood. How the hell was he going to explain this? He's going to have to wash his arm in the sink. Flushing the bathroom stall toilet, he unlocked the stall door, and peeked his head out.

Once he determined that the coast was clear, Tsuna all but ran to the sinks. Turning on the cold water, he held his hand under the rush of water that came from the faucet. He let out a quiet hiss as the water poured over his bloodied arm, turning the water a dark pink and then flowing into the drain. Eventually, the water turned black to being clear and Tsuna sighed, and closed his eyes. Turning the faucet off, he turned to the place where the towels were being kept.

Reaching out, he had expected his hand to come into contact with either the hard plastic of the paper towel dispenser or the rough paper towel itself. He did not expect for his hand to come into contact with a soft fabric and a hard stomach. Tsuna's eyes snapped open as he looked at the person before him, not really realizing who it was until a word was spoken.

"Herbivore."

That one word had enough power to send Tsuna reeling back. "Hiee! H-Hibari-san!" He squeaked out, conveniently flailing his arms to grab his sweatshirt he left on the sink next to the one he used. Quickly and fluidly he put the sweatshirt on. He had hoped that the prefect had not seen his arms.

"Be in the Disciplinary Office in three minutes." The skylark had spoken monotonously, then turned around and left the bathroom, but before leaving, he stopped in the doorway, "don't keep me waiting Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna briefly contemplated taking out his mittens and flying away from the school. Of course, that meant that he would never be able to come back to school...or return home...or go anywhere, really. Not only would Hibari be pissed, and he's pretty sure that Reborn would beat him within an inch of his life if he ran away. Sighing, Tsuna decided that he might as well follow his Cloud Guardian's orders. Tsuna hurried out of the bathroom and down the hallways toward the Disciplinary Committee office. Once Tsuna was standing in front of the office door, he raised his fist to knock, but before he could, Kusakabe had opened the door for him with a confused look.

"Kyo-san is quite upset, I don't think it is a good idea for you to bother him right now, Sawada-san." The older teen told Tsuna.

Tsuna took a deep breath, "Hibari-san told me to come here." Tsuna heard something being thrown against the wall, and then falling to the floor in multiple soft thumbs. He winced. Hibari was pissed. What could have happened in the few minutes that it took for Hibari to get back to the office and wait for Tsuna?

"Where the hell is that herbivore?!" Tsuna heard the prefect yell, but he still couldn't see him. "Tetsuya! Go find Sawada Tsunayoshi! If he's not in school, expand the search into town. Check rooftops, trees, and look in the sky."

"Eh? Hibari-san, I'm right here," Tsuna called out, and he heard the skylark growl loudly as he appeared in the doorway.

"Didn't I tell you to be here a minute ago?"

"I-I was j-just about to come in, H-Hibari-san. I had to tell, Ku-Kusakabe-san f-first."

"Hn." The skylark turned and headed back into the office as Kusakabe moved to the side to let Tsuna in. Once Tsuna entered, Kusakabe left the room and shut the door behind him.

"L-look, Hiba-" Tsuna started, only to be cut off.

"Strip." Hibari told him coldly.

"...what?" Tsuna was in shock. Did Hibari just tell him to strip? Of all things. He had to have heard him wrong. His sinuses must be clogged due to all of the crying. He sniffled. Yep, that had to be the reason he must have heard Hibari wrongly because there's no way he could have told him to-

"I said, strip, herbivore."

Oh, my god. He did say strip. Tsuna couldn't move. Paralyzed in fear, thoughts were racing in Tsuna's mind. He saw my arm in the bathroom, oh my god, he's going to do a full body search...he's going to see the rest. Tsuna started to take in short breaths as tears began to pool in his eyes. Great, he thought to himself, I'm going to have an anxiety attack in front of Hibari of all people. Why? Why me? Thoughts became fuzzy to Tsuna as his breaths became shorter and faster. Black spots danced in his vision as his knees became weak and he couldn't hold himself anymore. Tsuna briefly remembered falling, but not crashing to the ground.

Tsuna woke up with his arm throbbing and his head placed on something soft, but also hard. Flickering his eyes open, he saw he was sleeping on top of Hibari's chest. Slowly moving his eyes up, he say that the prefect was sleeping peacefully. Tsuna knew it would be a bad idea to try and move away from the skylark, but he had to get out from Hibari's grasp. It was starting to make him feel like an anxious, trapped animal. Carefully, Tsuna lifted Hibari's arm and gently put it aside while softly pushing himself off the bed.

That's when Tsuna noticed the bandages.

And the different clothes.

And the different room.

Tsuna's breaths started coming in quicker. Trying to calm himself down but to no avail. The Sky Guardian felt a pair of warm arms encircle him. He screamed; he needed to get away. Movements became frantic and desperate but the arms held tight. "Let," he pushed out between short gasps, "me go!" He demanded, his Dying Will Flame flickering to life without the help of the Dying Will pills. It seemed to have kicked in as a natural defense mechanism. The arms disappeared and Tsuna realized who was holding him.

Of course it had to be Hibari: he was the only one in the room besides Tsuna. Why would Hibari go to such an extent as to, what seems like, actually care for Tsuna. He looked towards the skylark, ready to demand answers. Hibari's face was stoic but his eyes showed a gentleness Tsuna never saw before. No, he takes that back, he's only seen that when the skylark was caring for his fluffy yellow bird, Hibird.

The Dying Will Flame died out as Tsuna calmed down. Dropping to the floor, Tsuna had decided to think. He didn't realize he would be voicing is thoughts aloud.

"First Hibari finds me in the bathroom, then he forces me to come to the office and when I'm one minute late because I had to tell Kusakabe that I was called, he goes on a rampage initiating a search party. Next, he wanted check for the other cuts that I've made, but if he did that he would see my bones because I haven't been eating. Then when I pass out because of my anxiety, he changes my clothes, and bandages me. Then I wake up on top of Hibari's chest in an unknown room. What the fuck is going on?" He rambles on and on, momentarily forgetting that he was in the same room as Hibari. It seems that Gokudera's...creative... language started to rub off on Tsuna.

Hibari sighed. He didn't even know why he started this in the first place. This was just another herbivore...but why did he feel betrayed when he saw Tsunayoshi in the bathroom? When he had searched the boy when he had changed his clothes? Tsuna was crying and Hibari felt awkward. He had no clue as to what to do. So, he decided that he might as well sit next to the boy that will be housing with him for an unknown amount of time.

"Little Animal," he spoke and Tsuna visibly flinched as Hibari sat next to him and spoke. He was expecting to be hit. Reborn always hits him more when he starts to cry. Hibari tried again softer, "Little Animal," he whispered, "calm down." Tsuna's loud sons turned to muffled cries.

Tsuna wasn't going to lie: he was terrified of Hibari. He didn't know how to react to Hibari trying to be...gentle. It just might have scared him even more. Tsuna could almost handle a tonfa wielding, pissed off, irritated Hibari, but this? He didn't even know where to start. Tsuna decided that maybe if he closed his eyes, pinch himself, and hope to wake up in a bed with no children running around the house, no mafia, no Reborn.

In Tsuna's attempt to pinch himself, his fingers came into contact with the rough cotton of the bandage on his arm. After realizing this, Tsuna patted his other arm, his stomach and both thighs only to find bandages in each and every location. His mouth dropped open; his cuts were all bandaged. Had Hibari done that?

"H-Hibari-san?" Tsuna stuttered out.

"Hn?" An eyebrow rose the the usually impassive face.

"Did you, you know," Tsuna gestured to himself, "do all of this? For me?" He asked shyly. Sure, Tsuna is Hibari's boss, but it doesn't mean he has this kind of obligation. Besides, Hibari isn't one to be held down by a "mere herbivore".

Tsuna glanced at the raven-haired prefect. A slight nod of Hibari's head was Tsuna's only confirmation that Hibari had willingly helped Tsuna. Tsuna was about to open his mouth and ask "why", but he was silenced when he heard Hibari speak first.

"Why?" He questioned, "why did you...do those things? Or was it the baby?" Hibari had seen the bruises as well. Tsuna felt a tear drip down his face again. Calm down, he told himself, calm down.

"I-I..." Tsuna started, "Reborn...he-" he stopped once he saw Hibari's livid look on his face.

"I'm going to kill the baby," Hibari told Tsuna as he stood up, unsheathing his tonfas.

"No!" Tsuna screeched, which made Hibari turn to look at him. Tsuna blanched, "he...he threatened to kill everyone if I told anyone. He said he would kill the Guardians...Kyoko, Haru, I-Pin, mama. Hibari-san...you can't beat him. If you fight him, you'll die. I can't have that happening to you." He explained as Hibari felt a warm feeling in his chest.

Hibari almost smiled, but he doesn't exactly know how to smile, so instead he smirked. This herbivore cared for his safety; the only one to ever care about his safety. The only one to ever actually care. "Little Animal, are you doubting my abilities?" Tsuna's sad demeanor seemed to be replaced by fear. Hibari mentally shrugged. As long as the Little Animal wasn't crying.

Wait..., Hibari thought, when did I start referring to Tsunayoshi as "Little Animal"? Hibari was very confused and it showed on his face, Tsuna saw the look but figured it was safer to not mention anything, so instead, he wrapped his arms around his legs and tried not to wince and the blunt, dull, throbbing pain that would accompany all of his movements since Reborn came, and he started to self-harm.

Tsuna felt nervous, but not panicky. He didn't know where he was and he kept expecting Reborn to pop out of nowhere and shoot down his Cloud Guardian.

"Eh, Hibari-san, I don't mean to be rude...but why do you care?" Tsuna asked while twiddling his thumbs.

No answer came from the skylark, except for when he turned around, walked out of the room and slammed the door."Hiee! I didn't mean to anger Hibari-san!" Suddenly, a figure was appearing before his eyes. It was...it was himself.

"You know, you're quite the worthless one here if you can't even control your own Guardians, very much your own tutor, who, is in fact, beneath you on the power scale. He works for you." The opposite Tsuna said. "Let's just call me Tsunayoshi, right Tsuna?" Tsuna could barely nod his head. Little did he know what was happening was actually in his head. That's right! Tsunayoshi is a figment of Tsuna's imagination.

"No..." Tsuna whispered, "you're not real-can't be real!" He stuttered out. "Ju-just get out!"

"Aw, Dame-Tsuna is getting frustrated! You're not worth anything. You deserve all of those cuts, and all of those beatings from Reborn." Tsunayoshi looked thoughtful, "Reborn is right, you know. None of your friends care about you. Why else would they have not realized what's going on?"

Tsuna couldn't handle the mental torture anymore, "GO AWAY!" He screeched. Hibari, who had been napping, woke up to the scream and all but broke down the door to the room Tsuna was staying in. He had expected the baby to be there, chameleon in tow, but all Hibari saw was Tsuna curled up in a ball on the floor, hands pressed tightly against his ears with tears pouring down his face. "Go away," Tsuna mumbled, "make it stop, make it stop!"

Hibari was immediately at the younger's side, trying to get the boy's attention. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, look at me," Hibari commanded, but this only made Tsuna wail louder. "Little Animal," he tried again, "look at me." Hibari saw beautiful honey-brown orbs shining with unshed tears look at him. "No one is here but you and I. Nothing is there. No one-nothing-can hurt you. I'll bite them to death if they try." He smirked, "it's late. Go to sleep, Little Animal, go to sleep." He whispered the last part. Unknowingly, Hibari had wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's lithe frame.

After a while, Tsuna's breathing had evened out, alerting the skylark that he was asleep. Carefully he picked up the boy and brought him to the futon in the room. Once he had placed the blankets on top of the sleeping boy, he made a mental note that the Little Animal was much too light than he should be, and as he walked out of the door, he turned back to shut the lights and saw the school bag and its contents scattered haphazardly on the floor. He was going to have to make the teacher excuse the boy from his homework for a little while. Of course, he wouldn't tell Tsuna this.

Hibari quietly padded his way to his own bedroom quarters down the hall. When he opened the door, Hibird had flown over to him instantly. "Kyoya! Kyoya!" Hibird sang excitedly.

"Be quiet. You're loud enough to wake up Tsunayoshi down the hall." Hibari berated his pet, who, in response, cocked their head to the side curiously. Hibird had never seen it's master like this. Hibird, of course, jumped to conclusions.

"Kyoya has a boyfriend! Kyoya has a boyfriend! Kyoya has a boyfr-" Hibird was cut off mid-word as Hibari snached him from the air.

"I do not have a boyfriend," he spoke icily. Hibird didn't seem to realize the tone, or just didn't care. Instead, he wiggled his way out of it's master's grasp and flew up onto Hibari's head, leading the prefect to sigh and gently pat the yellow bird.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow..." Hibari sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsuna was shocked to say the least. He didn't know what was more shocking; the fact that the day before wasn't a dream, or the fact that he had been woken up by taking a tonfa to the head. He looked at the ravenette in ludicrous.

Hibari merely shrugged, "I did try to wake you otherwise." He tossed an extra set of the school uniform onto Tsuna's still lying down form. "We leave in ten minutes." With that, the skylark left the room quickly and soundlessly, allowing the boy to begin changing and getting ready. Of course, that wasn't what happened. Tsuna continued to lie in bed, motionless. How did Hibari expect him to get up and function? To pretend that nothing was wrong? He saw how broken Tsuna was last night, but yet the skylark, the  _bastard_ , expected him to go on? To fake smile even though it physically  _hurts_?

"No..." Tsuna muttered. Pushing the spare clothes to the side of the futon, Tsuna leaned on his side, winced, and in an attempt to curl up into a ball, he gasped. The pain was worse than yesterday. He didn't feel liked this yesterday morning after the...incident...with Reborn. Black dots danced in his vision when he tried to uncurl himself. He figured he wasn't moving anytime soon...

Fluffy yellow feathers appeared near Tsuna's head and his eyes widened. "Three minutes! Three minutes!" Hibird cheerily chirped to alert Tsuna of his remaining time left to get ready before he had to face a pissed off Hibari. He whimpered loudly, and he closed his eyes as tears began to form again.

"Hibari-san is going to hit me and I can't do anything about it," he moaned. He didn't realize that said prefect was standing in the doorway. Hibari mentally cursed. Couldn't the boy see that he was trying-and he will not willing admit it, but failing-to help? "I c-can't," Tsuna hiccuped, "do anything right! How do they expect me to be the Vongola Decimo? All I've ever been and ever will be is 'No-good Tsuna'!" Tsuna cried, still oblivious to the fact that Hibari was in the room.

Hibari sighed loudly, "didn't I tell you we were leaving in ten minutes?" His voice, however, held no malice, anger, or disappointment. Hibari slowly walked towards the futon. He didn't want to startle the boy, nor did he want the boy t be afraid of him. Once he was standing next to the futon, Hibari lifted his hand, only to watch the other's eyes grow wide and his body try to sink further into the covers-as if to get away.

Tsuna didn't know whether to be relieved or not when the prefects hand slowly came down onto his head and ruffled his untamable hair. He froze when he felt Hibari's thin fingers brush against his scalp, even if it was only for a second.

"H-Hibari-san," Tsuna stuttered out. "P-please don't hurt me." He winced when he felt Hibari remove his hand so quickly that he could've sworn that Tsuna's hair caught on fire...oh wait. Sometimes it does. But right now, he wasn't in Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Hibari had no clue as to how to respond to Tsuna's plea. For the first time in his life, Hibari may have felt what seemed to be sympathy for the younger teen. He couldn't be sure though, considering that all he has ever felt were raw emotions such as anger, irritation, annoyance, and boredom. Hibari had unknowingly spoken aloud, "Little Animal, I don't want to hurt you."

Both teens were astonished. Had those words really really come out of Hibari's mouth? Tsuna's mouth dropped open and Hibari had flushed a light pink. Had those words really been meant? They just sort of came out of nowhere. Hibari decided it would be best to make a few calls. First to the school, then to the Little Animal's mother, then...Hibari decided he would cross that bridge when he gets to it.

"Don't move from bed. You will be skipping school today, and will probably miss the rest of the week. You will also be staying here for an unknown period of time." Hibari spoke coldly and almost regretted it after he had seen the look on the teen's face.

"I'm s-sory to be c-causing Hibari-san tr-trouble."

"Hn." Was all the response the raven gave.

After Hibari had left the room, Tsuna turned his face towards the ceiling. Had Hibari really meant those words? No, it was impossible. No one cared for him, especially Hibari of all people. But...what if he did mean those words that were spoken? Tsuna blushed a dark pink, his face soon resembling a tomato as a jittery feeling started in his stomach. This has been happening for about the past year or so whenever he thought about the skylark. He didn't understand what it meant, being the naïve boy he was, but he knew that he liked the idea of Hibari caring for him and not hurting him. With Tsuna's thoughts running wild, he soon fell unconscious, drifting off to a place where only his subconscious will truly know.

After calling the school and telling them that Sawada Tsunayoshi and he were going to be out of school for the next few days, he decided that it would probably be a good idea to call the Little Animal's mother. After he had dialed the number, a few ringtones later a woman's cheery voice picked up.

" _Hello, you've reached the Sawada household, this is Nana speaking."_ The woman, now verified as Nana spoke through the phone. Hibari gritted his teeth; he already know that this is going to be a long conversation. Unless...no. But, yes. The baby  _would_ think of something like that.  _"Hello?"_

"My apologies, Sawada-san. This is one of Tsuna's friends speaking. I need to ask a favor of you," Hibari answered.

" _Oh? One of Tsu-kun's friends? But you don't sound like Gokudera-kun or Yamamoto-kun."_

His patience was already wearing thin. _Just calm down, Kyoya,_  he thought to himself. "My name is Kyoya, I don't believe we have met, but I need to be able to speak to you personally in private. Would you mind meeting me at the gates of Namimori Middle School?" He had to be polite, as much as it kills him, he had to be polite to her to make sure that his Little Animal was able to stay with him and be harmed no more.

" _Hmm, Lambo-kun is sleeping, but I-Pin can probably watch him, and Reborn-san is out out Japan for the next day with Bianchi...I suppose I can meet you at the school in a few minutes. Goodbye and see you soon, Kyoya-kun!"_ Nana ended the phone conversation as Hibari's eye twitched at the use of "-kun". He absorbed the information while writing down a note for the sleeping Tsuna. It was just there in case his Little Animal wakes up.

_Little Animal,_

_I am going out. I have to do a few errands before I return._

_-K. Hibari_

"Hibird," he ordered the yellow bird, "stay with him and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble." The bird only gave a small chirp for a reply, and settled himself atop of Tsuna's soft brown hair.

With the note set in place beside the futon, Hibari exited the large Japanese styled home. He decided that he should probably get some minor exercise and decided to run to the school gates. The school uniform jacket with the Disciplinary Committee arm band was blowing out behind him as he ran. It wasn't long before he reached the gates and walked over to a nearby bench to wait for Nana.

About three or four minutes later, Nana came walking calmly towards the gates to wait for her only son's friend. She was giddy with excitement; her Tsu-kun had so many friends as of late! She hummed to herself happily as she watched someone remove themselves from the shadows that the trees provided near the benches.

"Oh? Oh! Is that you Kyoya-kun?" She announced happily to the prefect. Hibari felt the urge to take out his tonfas and wack the women over the head...but where would that get him?

"Sawada-san, I have come here to tell you that the Lit-that Tsunayoshi will be staying with me for a bit." He forced out of his mouth trying to be politely, but instead, he sounded rather annoyed and demanding. Nana didn't even realize Hibari's attitude; she was so excited that her Tsu-kun would be staying with his friends! And such a handsome one at that!

"Oh! That sounds wonderful! Why don't you and Tsu-kun come to the house later to pick up his clothes and some dinner?" Nana didn't even pause long enough for Hibari to answer. "Fantastic! Just come as soon as school ends! Oh, I should probably get back. I need to grab the kids and take a trip to the market for dinner later. Bye, Kyoya-kun!" The woman spoke with haste and left shortly after, determined to have everything ready for when the pair arrives.

As soon as the older woman was gone, Hibari let out a vicious growl. He was pissed and needed to be calmer before he went back the house. A loud bang flew through the air along with a few grunts. The Cloud Guardian smirked and jumped gracefully over the fence. "Herbivores," he spoke menacingly, narrowing his eyes. "You are disturbing the peace. For this, I will bite you to death." Raising the signature steel tonfas to his face, he took in the scene before him.

It was the usual, a few bullies, four or five, had ganged up on an unsuspecting student. Easy enough, but Hibari decided to have a bit of fun. And by fun, he meant he was going to toy with them. And by toy with them, he meant that he was really going to beat them senseless. The one in the middle who appeared to be the leader of the band of bullies, looked over his shoulder when he heard words being spoken. His eyes grew wide in fear as he saw the infamous, and widely feared, Disciplinary President.

"Ah! It's Hibari-san!" He screamed out to his fellow comrades. "H-Hibari-san, we were just trying to keep the peace. You see, the herbivore over here thought it would be a good idea to sneak in from the back _and_  be late for school You see, we were only trying to help!"

If possible, Hibari's eyes narrowed even more. "What did you just call them?" He asked seemingly calm.

"Uh, um, I said 'the herbivore', Hibari-san." He stood up straight, as if he was proud.

"No one calls anyone an herbivore except for me. You see, this is because you are a mere herbivore yourself. Not only that, but  _I_ am the  _only one_ allowed to call people herbivores, herbivore. Now, I'm definitely going to bite you to death." Once the pissed-off skylark had properly bitten the five bullies, he was just about to walk away when he heard a groan come from the heap that was lying on the ground. At first, he ignored it, and continued to walk away, but it came again. This time with a voice behind it.

"H-Hibari-san," a weak voice called out. It made Hibari pause for a second and glance back. Even with his uncanny ability to be able to see well in the dark, Hibari couldn't see the face or shape of the figure on the ground. From the size of the body lying crumpled on the ground, Hibari had guessed that it was probably a female. "Hibari-san..." The voice tried again. He figured it was just another one of his fangirls. Yes, even the scary, unapproachable Hibari had fangirls swooning all around the school for him.

"Tch, herbivores," was all that Hibari responded with. First, the main herbivore tried to use his insult when he was just an herbivore himself. Second, they had beaten up a girl, most likely defenseless and just trying to get to class. Even Hibari had morals. Sure, he would fight and bite to death a female, but he wouldn't leave her in a crumbled heap, nor would he do it for no reason. Sighing, he pulled out his cellphone. He had to call Kusakabe and tell him to alert the nurse.

Just as the skylark was about to press the CALL button, the voice came back again. This time stronger and louder. "Hibari-san!" It called out. Only then did Hibari realize that it was a male. He flipped the phone closed. He would let the boy get up on his own. Turning back around he resumed his walking.

" _Hibari-san!_ "

The raven haired boy stopped in his tracks, almost tripping over his own two feet. "No," he muttered to himself. And that's when he heard it. That's when he heard the Namimori Anthem being sung by none other than Hibird. That would mean that the boy on the ground would be..."Tsunayoshi?" The small figure gave barely a nod before he collapsed back onto the ground.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Hibari looked at the unconscious boy in front of him. He refuses to believe that he may have panicked. He just ran over to where his Little Animal had passed out, pick him up gently, and sprinted to the Disciplinary Committee office. He had checked all of the new and old wounds on Tsuna's body and replaced the bandages. His Little Animal was worse than before; Hibari mentally added bullying to the list that seemed to keep growing after every new revelation about why Tsuna is the way he is. He sighed, it was going to be long journey for Tsuna to return to a form of somewhat normalcy.

Standing up from his black leathered computer chair, Hibari glanced at the sleeping boy. He appeared to be sleeping and would probably stay that way for a while due to the stress on his body, but that is what he originally thought when he left Tsuna alone that morning. It was just supposed to be at most thirty minutes. The young brunette should've still been sleeping! Hibari felt as if he was an idiot. He had known that he locked up any sharp objects, but he still shouldn't have left his Little Animal alone. Still, Hibari does have to make one more phone call. As much as he doesn't want to, he knows he has to.

"Kusakabe!" Hibari barked out once he popped his head out of the door. "I need you to watch Tsunayoshi while I make a phone call."

Kusakabe, of course, agreed and allowed his boss to step outside of the office while he stepped in to watch Tsuna, but he couldn't help but wonder what Hibari's sudden interest in Tsuna was all about. Eh, sooner or later he'd most likely find out. He knows that he just has to trust that the President of the Disciplinary Committee would tell him, or perhaps let something slip (even if that's not likely).

Hibari was glaring at his phone. He didn't want to do this. Not one bit. He pressed the call button on his screen and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" The person on the other end of the phone was slightly confused. This was their personal cell phone and they were receiving a call from a blocked number. "Hello?" They had asked again impatiently.

Hibari took a deep breath. His thoughts were going haywire. How was he even going to try and talk to this person? This was a stupid idea. He should probably just hang up. His whole body was tense and his jaw was clenched together. Not to mention the screen-crushing hold he had on his phone. It was a miracle it didn't break yet.

"Well, if you're not going to say anything, I'm going to hang up. Don't try to call this number again or I will track you down. Good-" The person was cut off by Hibari's poignant tone.

"Bronco."

The call was short and clipped. It only included minor details and basically just the important thing: Tsuna was in trouble and Dino needed to come to Japan-discretely and as soon as possible. He couldn't let Reborn know that he was coming, but he needed to arrive quickly. The quickest time that Dino had said he would be able to arrive would be tomorrow evening. They would meet at Namimori Middle School's gates.

Hibari was done quickly with the conversation and was glad, he wanted to get back into his office and assure himself that Tsunayoshi was fine. Upon entering, Hibari was greeted with a sight he once again didn't like.

Tsuna was having a nightmare, or so it appeared. The chair he was originally slumped on was move back towards the wall and turned to the left. Tears were streaming down his Tsuna's pale face and a few whimpers would work their way out of his small mouth. Hibari turned to glare at Kusakabe, who, was holding his hands up in a way that said "I didn't do anything!" and a scared look on his face. Whether the scared look was for what he thought the skylark was going to do to him, or whether it was for Tsuna, Hibari didn't care. Hibari yelled at his subordinate to get out as he rushed to Tsuna's side.

"Little Animal, it's just a dream. Come back to reality. You need to come back to reality." He shook Tsuna harshly, hoping that the brunette would wake up. "Goddamnit," Hibari cursed. "Wake up!" Just as he brought his tonfa out, he stopped millimeters away from his Little Animal's head. Tsuna had woken up in a startled haste. Big, glassy brown eyes peered up at the prefect. Hibari quickly sheathed his tonfas away.

"H-Hibari-san," Tsuna whispered. "Does Hibari-san really care about Tsuna?" The young Decimo had asked the skylark in a cracked voice. Hibari couldn't respond, and instead just stood there, frozen. It seemed that he was saved from answer just as two obnoxious herbivores came crashing through the door. The bell had just rung, signifying the lunch period. Tsuna jumped up, wincing and letting out a mumbled curse, and went to hide behind Hibari, who in turn stood almost protectively in front of Tsuna

"Hibari, you bastard! Where are you?! The Tenth is missing. We need you to send out the Disciplinary Committee to come and...search...with...us..." Gokudera's sentence trailed off when he saw that Hibari wasn't the only one standing in the office besides Yamamoto and himself. Looking closer at Hibari, he saw that there was a pair of thin legs behind Hibari's and points of untamable brown hair sticking out.

"Maa, maa, Gokudera calm do-" And that's when Yamamoto saw what Gokudera was staring at, "Tsuna...?"

"H-hey, guys," Tsuna stuttered out. Quickly while still hiding behind Hibari, Tsuna wiped his eyes and face, trying to get rid of any remnants of tears as he out on a promising smile.

"Tenth!" Gokudera called out. "What are you doing with that bastard?! Where have you been? Did the bastard hurt you? Just tell me, Tenth, and I'll blow him to bits!" Gokudera exclaimed, clear anger, hurt, and betrayal lying in his eyes. Gokudera quickly pulled out his dynamite and Hibari let his tonfas slide out.

"Ah, Go-Gokudera-kun, it's alright. H-Hibari-san is, um, he's just, um-" Tsuna tried to explain but Hibari cut him off.

"The Little Animal will be residing with me for an unknown amount of time. Now, I ask you that you refrain from telling anyone this. Especially the baby." Hibari announced coolly. He glanced back at the the brunette behind him and saw the uncertainty flash in Tsuna's eyes. Hibari's eyebrow rose. "Oh? They don't know?" Tsuna could barely shake his head.

"No, they don't," he whispered.

"Ahaha, that's funny Hibari! Did you get a new pet?" Yamamoto asked, seemingly oblivious to the dangerous aura that was being admitted around the room. Hibari merely glared at the Rain Guardian and Tsuna blushed.

"No, I did not. Tsunayoshi will be living with me for an unknown period of time." God, how many times do I need to repeat this? Hibari added in his mind. "You cannot and will not tell the baby, that will only raise suspicion." Hibari explained. Gokudera was confused. Even with his scholar-like mind he had no clue as to what exactly was going on.

"Tenth...?" He questioned.

Tsuna sighed at his friends antics. "P-please guys-" he started, but was once again interrupted.

Everyone was completely oblivious to the fact that Yamamoto was staring intently on a specific object. He could see bandages protruding from beneath his shorter friend's school uniform. He heard that Tsuna was talking, but he didn't really care. Interrupting Tsuna in mid-sentence, Yamamoto questioned seriously and, if not darkly, "Tsuna, what's wrong with your wrists?"

All the teens in the room watched Tsuna's eyes grow wide. "Hiee! Oh, it's n-nothing, Yamamoto. I fell and scraped my arm the other day," Tsuna lied smoothly. Yamamoto would've have believed the lie, too, if it wasn't for the sad look that passed over his friends face. Or perhaps, that when Yamamoto took a step towards Tsuna, said boy took a step back, with the skylark following him protectively, tonfas still at the ready.

"Tenth!" Gokudera obviously had believed the lie, "you should have told me! I could have helped bandage them and I have this really good antibiotic ointment," the Storm Guardian had somehow produced the ointment as he now has it in his hands. "See?! Show me the scrapes, it'll even work now! The damn pervert doctor gave it to me and said to use this instead of going to see him." He continued to explain.

A lightbulb idea had appeared in the baseball idol's mind. Maybe...if he worded it correctly, he could get Tsuna to reveal his wrists. Yamamoto had a feeling he knew what they were, as much as he didn't want to believe. How could he had missed the signs? He sighed. Well, it's worth a shot.

"Gokudera's right Tsuna, you should probably clean them out, right?" He questioned.

"Shut up, you baseball idiot!"

"I've already cleaned the cu-scrapes." Hibari had butted in; a slip of his tongue would have probably meant that his office would have been blown to smithereens, not to mention the school or the rest of Namimori. Gokudera stopped yelling and Yamamoto was shocked.

"You did what?!" They both asked in surprised unison.

Tsuna was going to have a panic attack if he continued to stay there any longer. "I-I need to go. I'm sorry, Hibari-san. I'll see you at your house later." Before Hibari-or Tsuna's best friends, for that mater-could say anything. Tsuna had produced his white 27 mittens and had popped a Dying Will pill. Working as quickly as he could, he had opened the office's window and had flown out. Sometimes it was such a blessing that he could fly. It did, in a way, calm his as well.

After watching Tsuna leave, Hibari turned and growled at the two herbivores that were crowding his office. "There's no use in trying to argue against Tsuna staying with me, I have already gotten Sawada-san's approval," he told them as their faces became a mixture of envy (on Gokudera's face) and despondency (on Yamamoto's face). "Not a word of this will be spoken to the baby about this. Your lives-no, all our lives, depend on it. And Tsunayoshi's safety, now, get out. Don't bother me again." Hibari turned away and looked out of the window. He briefly wondered if his Little Animal had gone straight to his house or had taken a detour. He had sighed loudly. As long as he was here, he might as well get a headstart on the paperwork that needs to be done.

Tsuna ended up only flying up to the school's rooftop. He hadn't wanted to leave his Cloud Guardian's side, but he wasn't about to have an attack in front of Gokudera and Yamamoto. He needed to go to school, he should have just worked through whatever he was feeling that morning and just pretended. If had been more careful, he wouldn't have to be in this mess with Hibari.

He didn't have to drag the skylark into the dark abyss that would follow him wherever he went; that would engulf him.

Tsuna had landed on the water tower that he knows Hibari often occupies; he thought about the nightmare that he had just had.

_"Hibari-san!" He called out happily. He had missed the older boy and was no doubt excited to see him again-even if Hibari was only gone a couple of hours. Hibari heard the familiar voice call out to him. Turning around Hibari looked at Tsuna._

_"Little Animal," the prefects cool tone reached Tsuna's ears and brought him out of his train of thoughts. "Why?" He questioned seriously. "Why did you leave us? Leave me?!" He yelled angrily._

_"Wha...? Hibari-san, why are you so upset? I didn't go anywhere." Tsuna argued back._

_"You left me! I had just trusted you and you left! Just like everyone else!"_

_"Hibari-san, calm down! Your ring has your flames growing too large!"_

_"Just leave me alone! You lied to me!" Hibari yelled._

_"I love you! Why would I leave?!" Almost immediately Tsuna's hands went to cover his mouth. Why did he just say that? He couldn't possibly be in love with his Cloud Guardian...could he?_

_Before any other thoughts, words or things were shown or spoken in the dream, the landscape turned to a bright white._ "Little Animal..." _He heard the muffled voice of someone calling out to him. More words were said but Tsuna couldn't make them out._  "Goddamnit, wake up!"

And that was when Tsuna's eyes had opened and he recognized the prefect and had identified him as the source of the voice he had heard calling. Tsuna sighed. He really didn't know why Hibari had started to call him "Little Animal". It wasn't that he minded, not at all, in fact, it made the young mafia boss experience a slight fluttering of the hurt whenever he was called that. He was happy to know that Hibari cares. After spending who knows how long up on the water tower, Tsuna heard voices floating around. His Hyper Intuition going haywire; trying to warn him that it was his two best friends. They can't possibly know that he was there, can they? They probably don't, it is a mere coincidence.

Except for, you know, the fact that "mere coincidences" don't actually occur.

So Tsuna tried to remain as quiet as possible as he peered over the side of the water tank, hidden. He watched as his comrades talked loudly, angrily, and in a tone that sounded like they felt betrayed.

"Why would Tenth be with that bastard? I wonder if Hibari gave him those scrapes on his arms!" Gokudera vented angrily. "Why didn't the Tenth come and talk to us? We're definitely better company than him!"

"Maa, maa, Hayato, who knows? Though, I have a theory," Yamamoto's voice turned deadly serious. "I think Tsuna had made those 'scrapes'," Yamamoto used air quotes around the word, "himself. He...I think Tsuna cut himself." He sighed and ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "And we were too blind to notice it."

"Takeshi, you know the Tenth would have come to us if anything happened...right?" Gokudera asked unsure of himself.

"...would he?"

Tsuna, who has been observing this, was shocked to hear his friends-who he swore disliked each other so much, okay maybe more so Gokudera hating Yamamoto-calling each other by their first names, and not...arguing with each was even more surprised when he heard that they were talking about him. So, then imagine his surprise when he saw his Rain Guardian pull the Storm into a encompassing hug, head bent down, whispering things into the others ear. He gasped; how could he not?

Yamamoto thought he had heard something and perked his head to look around. Nope, nothing was there. He went make to talking to his boyfriend, the Storm Guardian. "Would Tsuna have come to us? God, now that I think about it all, I can't even remember the last time he was fully present in class, or the last time he sat down and ate lunch with us..."

Gokudera wrapped his arms around Yamamoto, squeezing gently. "I...I can't either..."

The rustling of the wind and a few heaved breaths were the only things that Tsuna could hear. Everything else was silent. He was happy for his friends at the accidental revelation. He was just about to try and sneak away to leave the couple alone, but stopped when he heard Yamamoto talk again.

"Hayato...did you see the way that Hibari-san was looking?" He questioned.

"No, all I saw was Tenth standing behind him looking pretty much terrified. Why?" The bomber questioned, glancing up at brown eyes.

"Ahaha, it's probably nothing," Yamamoto tried to laugh it off nervously, "it was just that the way he looked was the way I look when I'm pissed when someone is taking our time away from each other, or even our time spent with Tsuna." Yamamoto could almost see the bronze gears turning behind the silverette's eyes.

"No..." Was the only response given to Yamamoto's comment. Tsuna, on the other hand, was utterly confused. What did Yamamoto mean? Don't get Tsuna wrong, he's seen some of the nasty looks the baseball idol has given out, despite his reputation for being one of the kindest people in Namimori. Oh well, Tsuna thought to himself as he oh-so-carefully jumped down from the water tank. He didn't take his mittens off when he originally flown to the roof, but he did need to take another Dying Will pill. Mental Note: ask Basil for more Dying Will pills.

Tsuna was able to sneak out off of the rooftop with only a soft hiss being left behind in his wake. Deciding that it would probably be best to head back to Hibari's house, Tsuna headed back quickly; afraid of what would happen if Hibari was to go home and not find him there. HIs thoughts roamed back to the dream, but he pushed it aside, reminding himself that it was just that. A dream. Nothing more.

Later that day, Hibari returned to his home from school. Upon entering the home, he had heard a crashing of what sounded like plates hit the bamboo floors.

"Shit!" He had heard the curse exclaimed. Moving closer to the where he sound originated from, he called out.

"If there is a worthless herbivore in this house, I am going to bite you to death for breaking and entering."

"Hieee! H-Hibari-san you're home! I'm sorry I'm the herbivore that broke the plates." Tsuna explained terrified as he let his eyes drop to the floor. Hibari restrained the urge to strangle the brunette when he heard the plural version of the word "plate". Thinking back to what he had originally heard, the exclamation of a curse that normally did not pass through the brunette's lips. Too much time around Gokudera will do that to a person.

"You're not a herbivore," Hibari stated simply as he leaned down to start working on the mess. At least it was the cheap plates that he bought off the street vendor.

"Eh?" The not-a-herbivore in question squawked in question. "What am I then?" Tsuna worried.  _If I'm not a herbivore, then how much lower can Hibari consider I am? That's so disappointing!_  Tsuna's mind wailed.

"Simple," the prefect began. "You're my Little Animal."

Tsuna's mouth dropped open as he let out a small gasp. "Wha-what did you call me?" He questioned in disbelief.

"I'm not going to repeat it again..." Hibari told him as he began to smirk. Perhaps he would toy with the brunette. "...my Little Animal." Unbeknownst to each other, both of the teens were having a strange feeling in the pits of their stomachs'. Tsuna's eyes widened as his faced blushed as bright as a tomato. If you looked closely, you could have seen the rose petal pink tint that Hibari's cheeks held, but it was gone as soon as it came.

* * *

**Leave a review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING IN THIS CHAPTER. YOU WERE WARNED.

"Mama? Mama, it's Tsuna! I'm here with, um, Hibari-san!" Tsuna called out into the house. Immediately sounds of crying, yelling, screaming, along with the sounds of objects crashing were ringing loud and clear in his ears. Hibari scoffed. He thought they were all annoyances, even the Little Animal's mother, but he would tolerate her, for Tsunayoshi's sake.

"Gyahahaha! The Great Lambo-san has found Tsuna! Mama! Lambo gets extra dessert tonight!" The five-year-old cow child exclaimed while running off. Tsuna tried to quiet his jittery hands as he made his way up the stairs to his room with Hibari following closely behind him. Even on the walk over to the Sawada household, Hibari seemed to walk a bit closer to Tsuna, seemed to pay more attention to Tsuna, overall more protective.

Tsuna wasn't exactly sure if what happened earlier was to be considered a confession or not, but he decided not to push anything. He couldn't. No one could love him; it was impossible! Reborn told him that no one would ever fall for his no-good student. That Tsuna would never work up enough courage. That he would never be good enough to amount to anything. His thoughts continued to run rampid, more and more thoughts running through his head. As soon as he reached his bedroom, it just continued to get worse, and worse, and _worse._  He couldn't get them to stop; they  _wouldn't_  stop.

Tsuna let out a strangled whine. "Too...there's too many..." He slapped his hands over his ears in a useless effort to try and muffle the voices that were eating at his very core. "Stop it!" He whispered, collapsing onto the ground. "Just make it stop." By now, tears were streaming down Tsuna's face, but to the skylarks demise, he hadn't had a clue as to what he was going to do. Large brown orbs shining with tears looked up to Hibari who was standing above him. Tsuna was trembling, shaking without being able to stop."H-Hibari-s-san," Tsuna hiccupped, "m-m-ma-make it stop. Please...j-j-just m-make it s-stop...It n-need to s-stop." Hibari didn't know what to do, he was basically helpless at the moment_weak. and he didn't like it one bit. A knock came from the bedroom door that was prevoisuly slammed shut in Tsun's race to become hidden.

"It's I-Pin! Is Lambo in there?" A small voice came from outside of the door. Hibari mentally cursed. If the young Chinese girl was to see Hibari, it would activate the Pinzu Time Bomb because of her shyness.

Tsuna opened his mouth about to say something, but Hibari knew that if his Little Animal was to speak, his voice would crack. Hibari had to make a decision, and make it fast. Hibari grabbed whatever piece of candy that he could find on the desk in the room, swiftly moving to the door before sliding it underneath. He had heard the sound of footsteps running towards the door, with somebody laughing. It was too late for Hibari to realize what was happening. The door was flung open, not with his consent mind you, and a cow with a snot-filled crying face was flying towards him with a purple looking toy. Lambo was screaming bloody murder and as soon as he had collided with Hibari, a large puff of pink smoke had encompassed the room.

Tsuna had snapped his head up as soon as he realized the smoke in room because it made it harder than it already was for his to breathe. Once the smoke had cleared out, two figures sat sprawled on the floor . It was obvious to Tsuna who they were, he had seen the pair's future selves before. The first one to realize his new surroundings was Hibari. The ever observant Cloud Guardian's eyes scanned the room with precision and stopped as soon as his narrowed cobalt eyes met large honey-brown ones.

"So it's that day, is it? Interesting." Hibari let out while smirking. Quickly standing up, Hibari made his way over to Tsuna who was still currently encircling himself in a tight, curled up ball. He let out a squeak when he felt a large hand place itself on his knee.

"Hiee! H-Hibari-san! P-please don't h-hurt me!" Tsuna squealed out terrified. He was convinced that the handsome skylark was going to hurt him. Hibari had opened his mouth to respond to the comment the young boy made, but Lambo beat him to it.

"Yare, yare, Vongola, this one would never let anything hurt you. What makes you think he's going to hurt you out of anyone?" Fifteen-year-old Lambo explained in a bored tone. Hibari sighed. It was true, but it's not like his Little Animal knew it was.

"Come here," Adult Hibari had ordered, and Tsuna, who was still terrified for his life, but he still had the fake smile planted on. Crawled towards the now sitting form of Hibari while still shaking uncontrollably. Tsuna sat to the side of Hibari, allowing the older man some space, but before he knew it, he was pulled onto Hibari's lap! Just what was going on? Tsuna's face must have displayed his confusion and panic as he squirmed to find a some-what comfortable position. Tsuna really didn't like being so close to another human, it was starting to make him feel sick. He guessed that it must be a side-effect of physical abuse.

"H-Hibari-san, p-p-p-please let me go..." He pleaded in a whisper. Hibari looked like he may have been amused, but Tsuna couldn't tell until he saw the slightest twitch of the corner of Hibari's lip. Hibari began to lean down, bringing his face closer and closer to Tsuna's and he stopped mere centimeters away. Tsuna was blushing like mad as he adverted his eyes. He could look at the skylark in the eye at the moment. He felt the warm breath of the older man's breath fan across his lips and cheeks.

"Why do you do that?" The older man questioned.

"Do what?"

"Fake a smile. Even when around me. You don't need to. There's nowhere you can't not smile, so let it be with me."

"H-Hi-Hibari-san...what do yo-you mean?" Tsuan inquired.

The skylark had opened his mouth to say something. "And it will have been five minutes in three...two...goodbye, my Little Animal," he murmured as the pink cloud of smoke quickly engulfed the room once again. Now, Tsuna was sitting on top of that time period Hibari's lap, with their faces so close

that Hibari could almost taste the younger boy. Hibari's widened as soon as he realized his predicament. Tsuna was frozen in fear, unaware what the other would do. The prefect decided that he needed to get away; he was uncomfortable and the Little Animal's breathing had increased rapidly. Standing up abruptly, Hibari took a step back, letting Tsuna He was confused, his little trip to the future had sent his mind spiraling.

"Get your things together, we need to leave before dark." Hibari ordered Tsuna distractedly: it was obvious that his mind was in a different place. Oh, did he have so many questions for the Bronco. Walking out of the room, he had decided to wait downstairs in the living room.

After about ten minutes or so, Hibari started to become anxious, but about five minutes later, Tsuna had come down with a luggage that was about the same size as him. Hibari raised an eyebrow in question, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he had strolled over towards Tsuna, pried the younger's fingers from their grip on the handle, and was now wheeling the bag behind him as he left the house and started to walk on the street. He heard his Little Animal shout a good-bye to his mother, who rushed over to him, handing him a paper bag filled with containers of food. Both Tsuna and Hibari could smell the food and Tsuna's mouth began to water. He quickly left when he realized that the skylark had already traveled down the street.

* * *

Tsuna shivered as the brisk autumn air blew by. It began to get late and he still hadn't returned home with Hibari. He had decided to try to warm his hands up by bringing them to his mouth and blowing gently. Then, he had decided to wrap his arms around him tightly to preserve heat.

Hibari, who had been witnessing the whole act, thought it was quite...cute. He had swiftly taken off his jacket-which had the Disciplinary armband on it-and paced it around Tsuna's shoulders in all one movement. Cute, he thought again.

"Huh? What did you say Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked, curious as to what the prefect had mumbled after he had given Tsuna his jacket. He couldn't believe that the feared Hibari was being so nice to him. There was a light blush on Tsuna's cheeks, and Hibari felt his grow on his neck, but it was gone before anyone (although Tsuna was the only one around) could see it.

"Nothing." Hibari spoke coldly, he needed to pay more attention to what he thinks, or he may just say them out loud. Tsuna squeaked lowly and tried to take a step away from the prefect. Although, Hibari had shot out his arm in an attempt to keep Tsuna close to him, the younger boy had evaded him.

"Aha, Hibari-san," Tsuna chuckled nervously. He didn't really know what to say in this situation. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it, but it seems that Hibari didn't realize it. Or rather, chose to ignore it.

"Hn." Was all the response the prefect gave. The rest of the walk was silent.

Once Hibari and Tsuna had returned home, Tsuna wordlessly took his bag and trudged up to the room which was now his. Without thinking, he haphazardly threw the luggage into a corner and instantly lied down in bed. He was crying and he didn't even know why. All he knew was that he wanted to-no, needed to, cut. He needed to feel in control. He needed to feel the pain that he deserved. He had jumped up in thought. "But...how?" He whispered to himself. His backpack! He had hidden the Altoids Mint Box in the front pocket of his backpack. Hibari probably didn't check his bag, and even if he did, it would just appear as a random mint box. Stumbling over his own two feet, he reached his backpack in no time.

He opened the pocket where he had thought he remembered putting it. His eyes had gotten an unknown gleam in them. He reached out frantically and opened the box.

"Fuck!" Tsuna screeched. Where else...? Where else is there something hidden?! His pencil case! The pencil sharpener...if he could find a way to take out the blade, he would be able to do what he needs. Maybe he can slam the end of the futon on top of the plastic sharpener?

He grabbed his pencil case and dug around for a few seconds before his hands came into contact with the pencil sharpener. He did exactly what he thought he was going to do, and tried not to create too much noise while doing so. Tsuna grabbed the small razor and quickly walked to the small bathroom that was across the hall.

Maybe if he were just to end it all, everything would go back to normal for everyone's life he messed up. If Tsuna did anything good, it was probably what seemed to look like bringing Yamamoto and Gokudera together. Once he was safely in the bathroom, Tsuna sat on the white porcelain toilet and thought. Mindlessly, with every thought that came to mind, Tsuna was one step closer to cutting his wrist again. He didn't know how long he spent in the bathroom. It had to be a few hours at the least already.

His shirt sleeve was rolled up.

_Do it, Dame-Tsuna. A voice whispered in his head._

He stood up, and soon, the bandages were ripped off.

_While you're at it, make them deeper, and closer to the vein, why don't you?_

The hand that now held the small razor was poised above his wrist.

_Who's going to care anyway? Do it now!_

Down came his hand, right on top of vein. Maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky, he'd bleed out and won't have to worry about anything anymore. Maybe he can finally just rest. Another slash quickly came down on another part of his vein. Blood was spreading quickly. He had never realized how much blood could be lost from cutting open his vein. A small, sick smile spread on his lips. He sluggishly switched the bloodied razor into his other hand. It felt a bit slippery, but he held onto it tightly. Tsuna gave his other wrist the same treatment that the previous one had.

Tsuna felt dizzy from the blood loss already, and threw his arm out and placed it on the wall to try and steady himself. Little did he know that it only made the blood pulse out quicker, as well as leave a bloody handprint on the clean walls. Ever so slowly, Tsuna slid down to the ground. He felt so tired, he just wanted to sleep. His mind briefly asked where Hibari was at the moment.

The brunette felt his eyes fluttering shut and a single tear rolled down his face. His ears picked up multiple footsteps rushing down the hall. Was that Hibari calling him? "Hibari-san is so caring..." Tsuna mumbled out.

"Where the fuck is he, Kyoya?!" A voice called out and Tsuna's

"If I knew that, Bronco, I wouldn't be searching this goddamned house for him, would I?!" Tsuna heard Hibari yell. Tsuna chuckled softly, he knew this was the end for him. He was glad for it. Finally, an escape.

The bathroom door was thrown off of its hinges and splintered wood flew onto the floor. "Shit," a voice called out. Tsuna couldn't identify the voice, he was too far gone. He saw a blur of movement and slight pressure on his wrists. Tsuna knew that it wasn't going to stop the bleeding. Not a bit. The cuts were too deep and would definitely require stitches. A smile was on his face as his body gave way to darkness.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May have some out-of-characterness

Bright Lights.

Whispers.

Wrist were throbbing.

Head pounding.

Rough fabric.

Someone is holding my hand.

I smell cigarette smoke and antiseptic.

Is that sushi?

Tsuna slowly squinted his eyes open. He was in a hospital room, it seemed. The bright white walls hurt his eyes and the lights weren't helping either. There were other people in the room, but they haven't noticed him yet and Tsuna couldn't make out the faces.. Too absorbed with their own conversations. He looked down towards his bandaged wrists. He was confused. Why were his wrists hurting so much? Then he glanced at the warm hand in his. His eyes cautiously trailed up the arm to the see the owner's face. Tsuna let out a high pitched squeak when he saw that it was none other than Hibari.

"Ehh? Where am I?" Tsuna asked curiously. His vision was going back into focus, just as he witnessed four heads whip around to face him. He was shocked.

Hibari, Dino, Gokudera, and Yamamoto were all there. Gokudera's and Hibari's faces had what seemed to be tear streaks on them, but that was impossible, those two would never cry. Yamamoto was stoic and Dino looked as if he wanted to burst into tears. HIbari stood up abruptly, not letting go of Tsuna's hand and leaned over to give the boy a bone-crushing hug. He had been so worried. So, so worried for his Little Animal. Gokudera had run over to the bedside, almost tripping over his two feet; Dino and Yamamoto followed behind Gokudera.

"Hey," Gokudera yelled weakly, "get off of the Tenth, you bastard..." Gokudera's voice cracked. After the week, yes week, that Tsuna had been in a coma, the bomber had seen Hibari cry over the young brunette. His eyes shining with an unrevealed emotion. An emotion Gokudera knew all too well. He had begun to try and be more civil with the skylark when he could be. Especially now, seeing as how unstable Hibari was.

Said prefect merely glanced over to the silverette and gave him the best possessive growl, and glare, that he could muster. "Maa, maa, Hibari-san, you need to let go of Tsuna, look at his heart monitor," Yamamoto, playing as the voice of reason, cut in before the two got into an argument. Hibari reluctantly released his grasp on the younger boy, but remained to hold his hand. Tsuna was pale as a ghost by the sudden outburst of affection from the feared Namimori Disciplinary Chairman.

Dino shot his student a look, "remember what we talked about, Kyoya. Patience," Dino's eyes traveled down to where Hibari had trapped Tsuna's hands with his own. The prefect glared, but let go of his Little Animal's hand.

All four boys looked to Tsuna, who in response tried to sink back into the blankets and pillows. "Tsuna..." Someone started, but Tsuna just shook his head.

"W-what h-ha-happened? Did Reborn finally send me to t-the hosp-hospital?" Tsuna questioned. There was a collection of confused looks from the three that didn't know. He didn't know why he was there but,  _god_ , did his wrist hurt. He brought his hands up to his stomach and stared at the bandages, awaiting a reply from one of the other boys. When he got none, he proceeded to try and take the white cotton bandages off from one of his wrists.

"T-Tenth, that's not a good idea!" Gokudera stuttered out. Tsuna had decided not to listen to his friend and continued to unwrap the bandage. What he saw made everything that happened rush back into his head and he became angry. Hot, angry tears welled up in his eyes, and before he knew what he was doing, he was shouting.

"Why couldn't you just let me die?! Can't you see the hell that I am living in right now?! You would  _never_ be able to understand! Why couldn't you have just left me to die! It's what I wanted. I don't do anything to myself to make me happy and the one thing I try to do, you stop me from! I hate you all! Get out! I don't want to talk to any of you!" He screeched. Tsuna was seething. He didn't know who the rant was directed at but he saw the tell-tale sign of tears that were glistening on Hibari Kyoya's face as he stood up and walked out of the room without a word to anyone.

Dino looked at Tsuna sympathetically before following Hibari out of the room. Tsuna sat in the hospital bed, clenching his fist; he was sure he was leaving crescent shaped marks in his palm. Gokudera looked as if he was about to cry again, and Yamamoto looked longingly at Gokudera. Tsuna knew that instant that the baseball fanatic wanted to comfort his boyfriend, but couldn't in the presence of Tsuna because they didn't know that he had found out.

"...I'm sorry..." Tsuna whispered out. Yeah, he was still absolutely pissed about the fact that they had stopped him from doing what he wanted, but he immediately regretted yelling at all of them after he had done it. He quickly glanced around the room to see if he could find anything to finsh the job off, but found no such objects. The pain that clenching his heart was still there from when he saw Hibari leave the room. He looked at Gokudera and Yamamoto. "I know," Tsuna stated. Gokudera's head snapped up in confusion and Yamamoto just looked at Tsuna.

"Know what?"

"About you two dating."

"That's ridiculous. Why the hell would I date that baseball freak?"

"Don't lie to me." Tsuna warned. Yamamoto remained silent.

"Tenth, why would you even suggest such a stupid idea?" The words seemed to be flowing out of Gokudera so easily. Tsuna could almost see the hurt in Yamamoto's eyes and his rigid posture.

"I said do not lie to me, Gokudera-kun."

"S-seriously, Tenth? You think I would date  _him_  of all people? I'm not even gay!" Gokudera argued back, nervousness now evident in his voice.

"That's enough." Yamamoto spoke and walked towards Gokudera, enveloping him in a hug and a chaste kiss. "I'm guessing Tsuna accepts us, considering his own crush on Hibari-san," Tsuna heard Yamamoto murmur to Gokudera.

Tsuna sighed. He enjoyed seeing his friends happy with each other, so he doesn't understand why Gokudera would try to hide it...oh. Now he was being a hypocrite. Wonderful.  _Wait. Did Yamamoto just say that I have a crush on Hibari-san?!_ "Hiee! Yamamoto! I don't have a crush on anyone!" Yamamoto didn't even pay attention to Tsuna's retort.

"It's late Tsuna. We're going home, we'll visit tomorrow, okay?" Yamamoto told Tsuna who only nodded in reply. As they exited, a nurse came in to check all of his vitals and administer a sedative. The nurse left shortly after and after that, a few minutes later, Hibari had reappeared in the corner of the room.

"Don't you  _ever_ do something that stupid again, my Little Animal." Hibari's tone was icy, but when the prefect lifted his head, Tsuna could see worry and concern in the cobalt eyes.

"It would have been better off if you just let me die..." Tsuna spoke quietly. He knew that he wouldn't be tainting the world, and perhaps the Vongola would crumble after seeing that their Decimo wasn't as strong as they made him out to be. "Everyone would have been safer, and once they forgot about me, happier."

Hibari sighed, "no one could forget you." Tsuna stayed quiet as the prefect made his way over and grabbed his hand again. Tsuna didn't fight and instead, he squeezed it. Hibari froze when he felt a tightening around his hand, unsure of what it was, but didn't question it. "Does Hibari-san really care about Tsuna?" Tsuna had asked, unaware that he had voiced his thoughts aloud, the sedative the nurse gave him was starting to come into effect.

"Yes," Hibari whispered to himself, he was wondering whether or not Tsuna had heard him because when he looked at the boy, he was already sleeping. Looking towards the door and window, Hibari figured it was safe to do what he was about to do. Closing his eyes, he leaned down towards Tsuna's face, his lips hovering right above the brunettes. He couldn't press his lips to the other boy's; he couldn't take advantage of an injured animal, to put it simply. Instead, he raised his lips up to Tsuna's forehead and pressed a gentle kiss there. "Goodnight, my Little Animal. I'm not going anywhere." Hibari sat down in the hard plastic chair that was situated next to the hospital bed. He quickly fell asleep.

Tsuna, on the other hand, although he was drugged up, he was  _not_ asleep. He was merely closing his heavy eyelids, but he wasn't asleep. Suffice to say, the young Decimo was shocked. Hibari was actually going to-Hibari kissed his forehead! Thoughts were running like fire through his head. Spreading into areas of his mind that he didn't actually realize were there. Soon, Tsuna came to a conclusion.

But that conclusion was impossible, wasn't it? It's not as if Tsuna was gay! He likes Kyoko...doesn't he? For about the past year though...why was it that his heart sped up whenever Hibari was around? He realized he blushes more often when he is around. It couldn't be. They had to all be coincidences...right?

Let's say that he did like the prefect. There's absolutely no chance. Hibari probably sees him as an annoying little brother. Maybe he would have to talk to Yamamoto or Dino about it, seeing as Gokudera would freak out. He fell asleep with thoughts on the raven seated beside him.

"Kyoya! What's going on?" Dino asked the next morning, Romario following close behind. The skylark had barely given him any information, except that Tsuna was in trouble. For the past week, Dino had been trying to avoid questioning his student, but now that Tsuna was awake, Dino was going to demand answers. He was a boss of his own family and he couldn't just up and leave them without any information.

"Hn?" The prefect responded. He wasn't exactly sure what the blond wanted to know.

Dino, as if reading his student's thoughts, in that creepy way teachers seem to be able to do, sighed and tried the question again. "What is going on with my little bro? He was at your house and we found him fucking bleeding to death on your bathroom floor!"

Hibari's face visibly darkened. He should have realized that he was going to be interrogated. "I found him." He stated. Not knowing exactly how to carry on the conversation.

Dino was surprised that the boy in front of him was cooperating. Even if it was a small sentence that made no sense, it was a promising start. "Found Tsuna? Where did you find him?" He egged the other on to continue his explanation.

"I was doing patrols to make sure everyone was in the classroom and no herbivores were crowding in the bathrooms. I found Tsunayoshi there. He was rinsing his arm. It was filled with scars and fresh wounds." Dino gaped, and Hibari continued on, closing his eyes as if trying not to let the other see the emotion building in them. "I ordered him to my office. He was late. I thought he had run. He hadn't. I told him to strip."

"Okay, remind me to talk to you about subtlety when you like a person." Dino cut in.

"Not like that! I had to check for other wounds!" Hibari growled and spat back. "He had an anxiety attack, passed out, I caught him before he hit the ground. I checked him over. Changed his clothes, searched for any razors, and bandaged him. Then I fell asleep after making sure that if he woke up, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere."

"Jesus, Kyoya! What did you do? Tie him to a chair?!"

"Hn...I slept next to him."

"You...you what?" Dino muttered out. "And he wasn't hurt because of you? Amazing..." A sudden thought occurred to Dino, "Kyoya, let me ask you a question. Do you hold feelings for Tsuna?" He rushed out, hand already on his concealed whip if the prefect retaliated badly.

"Hn." With Dino's question being unanswered, Hibari Kyoya walked away. The blonde sighed, he should have saved that question for last. He still didn't have answers to some of the most important questions. Dino needed to think. After waving off Romario, Dino began his walk extra carefully to the room Tsuna was staying on.

He still couldn't believe it. Tsuna, bright, caring, happy Tsuna, tried to commit suicide. It made Dino want to cry, but in the mafia, there is no need for emotions. Or so Reborn taught him. He wondered if Reborn knew what was going on. His student, Kyoya, told him not to mention anything to Reborn. Confused as he may be, he respected the skylarks wishes. There was no need to have to travel all over Japan fighting. Again.

Dino made his way slowly to Tsuna's room. knocking on the door gently, he pushed it open. "Yo, Tsuna, you awake?" He questioned in a low voice.

"Huh?" A sleepy voice questioned and Dino mentally cursed for waking the younger boy. "Oh? Dino-san? You can come in if you want," Tsuna said. As soon as Dino stepped into the room, the brunette let out a large yawn. The blonde walked over to the plastic chair next to Tsuna's bedside. "I was just wondering where everyone was," the boy smiled.

 _Why are you lying to me?_ Dino wanted to yell at the boy, but decided not to. "So..." he had decided to just get to the point. "Mind telling me why we are here in the first place?"

Tsuna's face instantly paled. "Oh..." He spoke softly, "I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't take it."

"And killing yourself is the answer to that?!" Dino yelled while standing up. "Do you realize what would have happened to everyone?! What would have happened to Vongola?" Tsuna whimpered and he felt tears well in the corners of his eyes.

"Dino-san...please stop..." He whispered.

Dino didn't listen, continuing on with his rant, only to serve to make Tsuna more upset. "What about your friends?! Your mother?! What about-"

A loud bang echoed through the room as the door was slammed open. Standing in the doorway was Hibari, who had a murderous aura emanating from around him. "Out." He ordered, stepping into the room. Dino was shocked, and as a result he stayed where he was. "Get out, Bronco." Hibari seethed while unsheathing his tonfas. He didn't want to make his Little Animal more upset than he was already, but Dino needed to learn when to listen.

"Kyoya, I was just-"

"I said:  _get out_."

Hibari wished to bite him to death then and there, but knew that he would need the Bronco's support come the confrontation with the baby. Hibari's sharp glare burned into Dino, who, reluctantly left the room, but not without shooting a glance back at Tsuna. As if to say that the conversation between them wasn't over.

Hibari stalked over quickly to Tsuna and placed his hand on top of the fluffy mass of hair. The small action of comfort was enough to stop Tsuna's erratic breathing and have it become level. "Calm down," the skylark whispered.

"Hi-Hibari-san, why is Hiba-Hibari-san being so nice to Tsuna?" The younger boy hiccuped at the end of his question.

"Hn," Hibari replied, "because I care for the Little Animal." Hibari patted Tsuna's hair once more before removing his hand from said boy's head.

"But I was so mean to you before. I said I hated you..." Tsuna saw Hibari stiffen at the comment. "I said I hated you you and I meant it when I said it. I was upset when I woke up and I was alive, I just wanted to die. Why didn't you let me? It would have been easier for everyone." Tsuna sighed, "I still want to die. I will admit that. But I don't hate Hibari-san."

Hibari was speechless. What was there to say to all of that? Exactly. Nothing. Hibari managed to nod in response at the boy. "Tsunayoshi..." Hibari began and Tsuna looked up at him, caramel colored eyes wide and dull. "I think that-"

A whosh of air caught the two teens off guard. Both of them were together in a bubble of their own little worlds and that bubble was just popped by a knife that impaled itself into the wall in between the middle-schoolers. Tsuna's became wider and he moved his arm to reach out towards the knife. Maybe he could finish himself off! But due to the medication, sedatives, and underuse of his body, his movements were lethargic and Hibari got to the knife before Tsuna was able to.

"Ushishishi, am I interrupting something?" The owner of the knife spoke out, laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

"Herbivore! I said leave the weapons outside of the room!" Hibari growled.

"But the prince just wants to have fun! He can't have fun without his precious knives unless his fucking Squalo~!"

"VOOOOOIIIIII! Brat! Where'd you go?!" Said person burst into the room waving his sword around madly.

Unknown to Hibari, Tsuna's small hand was slowly creeping towards the hand that held Belphegor's knife. Just as he was about to succeed in grabbing it, Hibari realized what Tsuna was trying to do. Moving away quickly, Tsuna shot him a glare. HIbari sighed and looked at the two disruptive Varia members.

"Don't you herbivores listen? I said to leave weapons outside of the room."

"Ushishishi, and why should we listen to you, peasant?" Bel questioned while laughing. Hibari came to the conclusion that they were not notified of what happened when the got here.

"Do you want your boss to be able to kill himself?" Hibari coldly questioned as he threw Bel's knife right back at him. Bel caught his knife when it was mere inches away from his bangs.

"Voi! What the hell are you talking about, trash?" Squalo yelled as Bel paled. He now understands why the skylark wanted the weapons outside. He was such an idiot, he should have listened. Him of all people knew what it was like to what to kill himself.

"Squalo, give me your sword," the blond ordered the long haired assassin with an unusually serious voice.

"What the fuck? No way!" Squalo yelled. "Not until we get some fucking answers as to why we are here."

"Give me your sword. Now." Bel ordered with finality that even Squalo was shocked about. Slowly, he handed unscrewed his sword from his arm. As he handed it over to the younger blond, Bel noticed how Tsuna's face seemed to drop as the sword got closer and closer to Bel's hands. Tsuna nearly cried tears of frustration as he watched Bel leave the room, sword and knives in tow. Moments later, the self-proclaimed prince returned and turned to Tsuna. "It's story time, ushishishi~!"

Now it was Tsuna's turn to pale. He watched as Bel walked closer to Tsuna's bedside. Squalo was absolutely confused; both by how the way his boyfriend, Bel, was acting and by what the hell was going on. "Wh-what?" Tsuna squeaked out.

"Yeah, what the fuck?" Squalo barked out angrily. Bel just smiled.

"The prince wants a reason as to why the peasant tried to kill himself. He wants to hear his story because the prince has been there himself~!" Bel chimed. Everyone in the room went still and for once, Squalo became silent. Did Bel just say that the Vongola brat tried to kill himself...wait...did Bel just say that he's tried to kill himself before?!

Hibari could see the gears turning in the white haired man's head. Trying to piece together all that has been going on. "Voi! Is this all just a trick?! I'm not falling for this shit. Come on, Bel, we are leaving." Squalo swore loudly. "I can't believe I actually listened to that idiot student of mine. Never again."

"But Squ-Squ, look!" Bel called out to the older man and looked back, although reluctantly. Squalo saw his lover holding Tsuna's wrists up, now without the bandages. Scabs and scars adorned what should have been creamy almond skin. Tsuna felt so...embarrassed, disgusted, guilty, violated by the way that Bel was showing him off, among other things. Squalo's eyes had widened when he realized that this was not a joke. He stared at Tsuna with shock. Had the boy been like this during the ring battles? When Xanxus, along with everyone else in the Varia, was torturing his friends and him? Squalo felt disgusted with himself, even if his pride would never allow him to admit it.

"What...happened?" He slowly questioned. "Why? What about your family? Your comrades? Vongola?!" He slowly worked up a yell. It was Dino all over again. Except that Tsuna seemed to turn his emotions off.

"You don't seem to get it," Tsuna spoke lowly, defensively. He may have been upset with Dino, but it was because he wasn't expecting it. Squalo, on the other hand, is loud, demanding, dominant, and prideful. So all Tsuna needed to do was make sure that Squalo understood his place, right? Then he wouldn't question Tsuna? "I don't care. If you had to ever go through what I've been through, you would feel the same. But even then, I wouldn't wish any of this on anyone. Not even Byakuran when we were in the future."

Squalo's mouth was that of a fish's. Opening and closing, unable to answer the young boy. Bel laughed and let out a low whistle, and Hibari...Hibari felt a little proud of Tsunayoshi. Although, more of him was rather worried for seeing the boy react in such a way.

An uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Soon, Squalo walked out. Bel followed quickly behind, unusually quiet, but he didn't leave the room without flashing his usual lopsided grin. Hibari grunted and muttered something about having to explain things to 'herbivores who don't understand". He also left the room. As soon as the room was cleared of people, Tsuna slumped over. All of the tension that was putting a strain on his body had left, leaving him exhausted from arguing...and dealing with people.

"Why couldn't they just let me die...? He whispered to himself. "Look at all this shit that I have to deal with now?"

"Idiotic herbivores," Hibari began, "do you not understand how to take an order?"

"The prince doesn't take orders from peasants."

"VOI! Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Kyoya, I was just trying to understand..."

Hibari stood in front of the three that were seated in hard plastic chairs. Belphegor, Squalo and Dino were the ones that gave him the most problems. He looked at Dino first, the one he was originally furious with. "Bronco, you made little Tsunayoshi cry. Not only that, but I had already told you not to visit him without me in the room." His glare was sharp and he turned to Squalo and Bel. "And you! Don't you follow know how to follow orders?"

They both flinched at they felt the murderous intent building around the skylark. Luckily for them, their boss had decided to step in. They almost sighed in relief. Almost.

"Tch. Useless trashes. Should have listened. Don't even know why I bothered to come out here." Xanxus muttered aloud.

"Why are we even here?" A voice asked and the raven haired prefect turned to the source. It was Mammon, also known as Viper. Hibari's eyes narrowed at the sight of the floating baby.

"As you know, the Little Animal had tried to commit suicide, and is still currently suicidal," he cut a sharp glare to Bel. Showing him that that was the reason why weapons weren't allowed in the room. Those who were unaware-namely Lussuria- had let out a gasp.

Xanxus eyes just widened open slightly; he had not known that the younger was in such a state. Even though it may not seem like it, he did have an inkling of a soul, and he cared for the boy like a younger brother. Even going as far as to keep in touch with him after the ring battles. Letters were written and secret meetings were had. Tsuna eventually got used to the aura around Xanxus and broke through his walls. Both bosses ended up treating each other as a close brother-unknown to their subordinates and famiglias.

Silence was the only thing that egged Hibari on to continue speaking. He spoke about everything that he had witnessed, and everything that Tsuna had told him. Each person in the room was left in shock. The whole Varia, Dino, Romario. Hibari was starting to get annoyed with the amount of crowding herbivores, but the quicker he gets this over with, the sooner he gets to leave and know that they won't bother his Little Animal. As soon as Hibari brought up Reborn, everyone started to shout.

"..."

"The peasant dare harms the prince's friend?"

"VOOOIIII! The baby must die!"

"Fuck! Why didn't the trash tell me?!"

"Ooooohhh nooooo! Poor Vongola! Don't worry! Mama Luss will take care of it!"

"Reborn...harmed...Vongola? I will gladly help out without any payment needed."

"No...there's no way that he harmed my little bro!"

"Your 'little bro'?! He's mine, trash!"

"...what?"

"Shit...nothing."

An awkward silence fell upon the room. Of course, Bel was the one to want to break it."Ushishishi~," he laughed at the display between Dino and his boss. Then he quieted, "so...what are we going to do about the Decimo?"

"It's simple," Mammon called out. "We have to gather everyone. I'll call the Arcobalenos and-"

"I'll get my men out here." Dino cut him off.

"The Disciplinary Committee will help."

"Varia will gladly help out." Xanxus yelled loudly. "We will get this done. Tsunayoshi will get better and the baby will pay." Nods were seen around the room as well as murmurs were heard. "We aren't the best assassination squad for nothing." He smirked.

"Count us in."

"Anything for Tenth!"

Hibari rolled his eyes at the voice before he even turned around to see who it was. He knew who it was just by the voice and the statement. "There are too many damn herbivores crowding in this small room," he stated. "I'm going to check on my Little Animal." He turned around and left the room through the white door.

Xanxus, Dino, and Gokudera all looked at each other then at the door that the skylark had just left, and then back at each other then at the door.

"Yours?!" They screeched in unison. Hibari heard it and couldn't help but smirk slightly. He opened the door to Tsuna's room.

Hibari entered the room, leaving the lights off and walked over to the white bed. The blankets were pulled up all the way, the pillows thrown over the area where the head would be. Hibari took his hand and peeled back the blankets. Underneath it was not Tsunayoshi, but instead it was pillows. Flashing red lights began to go off in the Disciplinary Chairman's mind. Where could he have possibly gone?

The door should have been locked. The IV was still hooked on the wall, but the heat monitor was dead. Could Tsuna have possibly tried to escape...and succeed? No. There's no possible way for that to happen...is there? Hibari didn't have a clue as to what he's Little Animal was truly capable of. He slipped his silver cell phone out of his pocket, dialing the number on speed-dial. Gokudera had insisted that it had been set, just in case anything happened to Tsuna while he and Yamamoto were not there.

Hibari talked to Gokudera on the phone as he walked out of the hospital room in search of Tsuna. Uttering out two sharp sentences, Hibari snapped his phone shut. Walking briskly out of the building, Hibari looked around the area. Was it even possible Tsuna had made it outside? It wasn't likely. He walked back inside the building, his eyes scanning the area in front of him. In his peripheral vision, he saw the plant move, the tiniest gasp following behind it. Hibari sighed loudly, walking cautiously towards it.

"Why do you continue to hide even though I saw and heard you?" Hibari questioned and Tsuna let out a small whimper. He was afraid that Hibari was going to yell at him for leaving his room. The feared skylark walked around the potted plant and looked down at Tsuna. He let another sigh escape his thin lips. Swiftly, he bent down and picked the boy up. Tsuna squirmed in the grip until he became comfortable and relaxed a bit, resting his head on the older boy's shoulder. "The rest of the Varia are here..." Hibari trailed off.

Tsuna's thoughts immediately thought of the destructive group. He knew that Squalo and Bel were there, but the rest...? "Xanxus!" He yelled his thought out. Hibari's tight grip loosened and faltered for a moment. His Tsunayoshi called out the name of the other carnivore in the building. He growled lightly, possessively. Tsuna attempted to wriggle free from Hibari's tight hold, but was unable to. Luckily, or not, Hibari began to walk back towards the hidden corridors.

"You would not know where you are anyway, Sawada,"Hibari commented nonchalantly. "We are at the Chiavarone Estate. In Italy."

"E-eh?"

"Interesting considering the herbivore is livid with me..."

"What?"

"Hn? Nothing."


	7. Chapter 7

"Xanxus," Tsuna sighed, "it's not that simple. We can't just kill the greatest hitman alive." Xanxus scoffed at Tsuna.

"Of course not, which is why we should lock the scum in Vindice."

"No one deserves to be in that torture..." Tsuna trailed off, thinking of Mukuro, his Mist Guardian.

A short silence was what followed but then Tsuna's curiosity got the better of him. "Hey, Xanxus?" He questioned quietly. Red eyes locked onto the boy's frail frame, concern flashing for one second before it disappeared. He tensed a bit in his throne like chair, awaiting the question. He gave a grunt in response for Tsuna to continue.

"Is Dino-san angry at Hibari-san?" He inquired, not lifting his head to meet the other's gaze. He stared at his wrists that were wrapped in new bandages. So far, Xanxus and Hibari were the only ones not to yell at him. Even Gokudera slightly raised his voice during his and Yamamoto's last visit; calling him selfish. Yamamoto dragged his boyfriend out of the room and continuously tried to apologize and console a crying Tsuna.

"..." Xanxus didn't answer the question. In reality, he didn't really know what was going on between the Guardian of the Vongola and boss of the Chiavarone. The stupid shark scum would know better than himself, though he would never admit to that.

They fell into a silence that neither wished to break. Xanxus would sip on his glass of wine every so often. Much to his displeasure, the cup had to be plastic due to Tsuna's...condition. Of course their comfortable silence was soon interrupted by a loud, trademark screech of said shark scum.

"VOOOOIII! Where's the kid? The damn skylark wants to see him," Squalo yelled loudly into the quiet room. Xanxus, immediately annoyed by his subordinate's actions, he threw the plastic cup at the Strategy Captain's head. Dark red wine sprayed over Squalo's long, white hair, staining it. "Voi! What was that for!?"

"You're too loud, scum."

Tsuna watched the scene with wide eyes. Although, it wasn't Xanxus's and Squalo's yelling that he was staring at, but the fact that Hibari wanted to see him. Sure, the skylark has obviously been more affectionate towards Tsuna and more understanding, protective, and possessive, but our Little Animal here is pretty oblivious and innocent to all of those actions. As Squalo continued to yell at his boss and Xanxus looked at him with a bored expression, Tsuna slipped out of the bed. He quietly walked towards the open door and down the hallway where he was sure he would find his Cloud Guardian. His bare feet padded down the hospital hallway.

Everything was silent except for his breath as he tried to calm himself down. He arrived at the very end of the hallway, stopping in front of the grey door that led to the skylark's room. Raising him small, skinny arm, his tapped lightly on the door. He stood fidgeting as he waited for the calm voice of the one who will allow him into the room; he waited for permission to enter.

"Who is it?" The voice behind the door snapped. Hibari obviously didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment.

"I-it's Tsuna..." He called out timidly. The door flew open within seconds. The ravenette was looking down at the frail boy. He watched with such affection, such...love? Was it love that the skylark felt for the young brunette? For his boss? For his Little Animal? It was quite possible...but the question is, what is he going to do with it? Will he actually acknowledge his feelings, push them aside, or act on them? "You wanted to see m-me H-Hibari-san?"

"Yes." Was the only answer that was given to Tsuna. It was said so nonchalantly and uncaringly that Tsuna felt a bit hurt. He didn't know why, but he felt hurt, upset, and even more depressed. He wanted to cry. Did Hibari not care anymore? Is that why the skylark asked Squalo to get him?

"Why?" He questioned, hoping that didn't receive the answer he was basically expecting.

HIbari had many things firing through his mind at a rapid pace. Thoughts of Tsuna were mainly what occupied his mind. Whether it was images of Tsuna lying on his tiled bathroom floor, or of Tsuna laughing, or of him fighting. The Namimori prefect had one thought that would push to the forefront of his mind.

 _Kiss him_ , his conscious whispered to him. He glanced down at the fidgeting mafia boss. No emotion was shown on his face as the next words were spoken.

"Well...Hibari-san, I guess I will just go back to my room..." Tsuna trailed off. He started to turn away and walk, but he didn't get very far.

"Because I wanted to do this," he whispered. Hibari caught up with him easily. He spun the boy around in the middle of the hallway, and placed his lips onto the younger, surprised boy. Not knowing how exactly to kiss  _gently,_ Hibari's kiss was one of pent up sexual frustration and any other frustration he had. On the other hand, Tsuna, who was utter confused and terrified, his first thought and reaction was that he would be a gonner.

Throwing himself away from Hibari's grip on his shoulders, Tsuna yelled as a pink blush formed on his face around his wide eyes. "Hieeee! Hibari san was actually going to bite me to death!" He hollered as he ran down the hallway.

Hibari stood there, speechless at the action he had performed and his Little Animal's reaction to it. Why did he do that? Why would he? It was a stupid action. An  _herbivorous_ action.

His mouth opened in a silent scream as he realized that he must've scared Tsuna away. "God damnit!" He yelled out.

Tsuna flinched slightly as he heard the yell vibrate through the floors and into his body. He immediately jumped into the nearest room that was available and slammed the door behind him. The darkness of the room signaled that either the resident was gone, sleeping, or just simply sitting creepily in the dark room.

He figured that the loud slam that the door had made would have woken up anybody who may have been sleeping...and to his dismay, he heard a groan coming from somewhere in the room.

A knife whizzed by his throat, ear, and hand. Each place that was said had been hit and left small marks. Beads of warm blood dribbled down as Tsuna stood there frozen. "Get out, Froggy," the voice hissed out. Poor Fran wasn't even with the Varia at the moment.

"S-so-sorry! Sorry, Belphegor! I just-and then Hibari-and then-I'll just leave!" He squeaked out. He tried to escape by hurrying out of the door. Suffice to say, Tsuna had forgotten that Bel also uses wires, which he ended up slicing a thin line on his cheek.

"The Prince says that the peasant cannot leave until he explains himself," he hummed as lights flickered on and a careless looking blond sauntered towards him. "Give me the latest gossip, shishishi~ damn Squalo won't let me leave my room." He pouted while he leaned on the side wall, "you wouldn't even be able to open it anyway. Locked from the outside."

"So..." he continued, "dish out the latest gossip," he smiled widely. In return, Tsuna pushed himself further into the door, hoping that he would miraculously disappear. As Bel inched closer to the scarred brunette, he didn't expect that someone from the outside would swing open the door.

A murderous aura was being emitted from behind both of them. The one who stood in the doorway blinked. "HERBIVORE!" Was all that was yelled before Bel ducked under the oncoming tonfa.

"Ushishishi~ well, this has been fun, let's do it again sometime, hm? Shishishi~" The blond prince cackled hysterically at the seething Hibari and terrified Tsuna. He bounced away quickly, leaving the echo of laughter in his wake.

Hibari turned to the sniffling boy that was caught against the door with knives and wire. He figured he might as well use the situation to his advantage.


	8. Chapter 8

Tsuna kept his mouth shut and stared at Hibari, who in turn stared back. The skylark's voice held no sympathy in it, simply put, his voice was emotionless. Tsuna didn't know what else to do. God, he needed to cut, not kill himself, but, a cut can't hurt. All of this stress, all of this confusion, everything. He needed control. "Control..." he muttered under his breath lowly. He tested the strength of the wires and the knives that were locked in the door. They had become considerably looser. Hibari was talking, but the small brunette wasn't listening.

"...forget what happened. It was a mistake." The skylark's tone was cold, icy even. Chopped words that formed even chopper sentences. He was speaking through clenched teeth, as his eyes were guarded; Tsuna saw a flash of regret flicker through the steel colored eyes, but he figured that he was mistaken.

Hibari, although, was a whirlwind of emotions. Regret. Anger. Loathing. Possessiveness. Want. Even 'heartbroken'; yes, the great and ever fearsome skylark was heartbroken. Of course, you have already known that.

He swiftly turned around and stomped off towards the direction of his room. This small mistake of turning and leaving has left Tsuna with some ultra-thin wires, and three knives. A perfect opportunity. What you're thinking is true: this won't end well...but for who?

Soon enough, the young decimo was able to detach himself from the wooden door. He was slightly impressed on the outcome of the predicament he was in. He already made the decision; he would cut, but he would not cut near a vein, and it will not be seen. They can be deep, he does have medical supplies, but they can't be so deep that they would require stitches.

Taking precautions, Tsuna set up the almost invisible wires along the bathroom door, the actual door, and a random spot in the room. He stood up and admired his work. Well, at least Reborn taught him some pretty useful things. Besides, you know, breaking down the poor Decimo so that he lies on the ground in a curled up in a heap. The thought just fueled his urge to self-harm, to feel lost in the pleasant sting, to relish in the euphoric joy that comes with bleeding away his problems.

However, they will return. Metaphorically speaking, they, the problems, may have bled out of him, but they will swirl down the drain or toilet while mixed with pure water, but they will become filtered, change forms, and come back in a disguise as just the regular clear water which he will drink, entering his body once again. Does that make any sort of sense to you? Because it's how it's seen in the eyes of Belphegor. He would know, because, well, like he said, he's been at the point Tsuna is at.

Suicide or not, Bel was there, in fact, he frequently visited the wonderful dark , that's enough for now, his story may or may not come, it is up to how Tsuna behaves, how the others behave, and well, if the bloody prince is in the mood.

Now back to the young brunette; the young and abused teen that wishes to punish himself, to inflict pain upon himself. He maneuvered himself over the wires and made his way to the bathroom. After running the shower to create the idea of him just taking a shower, which he was going to, but not to cleanse himself in the way he wants others to think, but a different kind of 'cleansing'.

He wanted to cleanse himself to get rid of the demons that were swirling in his mind; in his soul. A cut here, a cut there. Red rubies dripped down from the platinum paint brush. The squish of skin slicing; the pleasure the sting brings. He didn't bother to undress before he stepped under the burning water, so the shirt and shorts became soaked, clinging to his skin, getting heavier and heavier. The blood that was pouring out of his arms, and out of his cut up legs.

His eyes glazed over as he fell to the bottom of the tub. His legs were splayed in an awkward assembly. His head lolled to the side, against the surprisingly cool tiles. The hot water left his skin the color of a lobster when freshly cooked. Pelting down harshly at his back, his arms, torso, and legs. His hair was weighed down, the brown locks held no bounce in them. He grinned lazily which to others would look maniacal.

Relapse.

So that's what it feels like.

But...is it truly relapse when he didn't actually get better in the first place?

He was lost in the high that he ever craved; the release; the feeling as if he truly was the sky, floating in it as if he was part of it. He felt unwound as blood continued to flow out of his self-made wounds, following the direction of the water, mixing in, and swirling down the drain in a hypnotic cycle. Bel's curved knife soon slipped out of Tsuna's small hand. Not being far from the ground, it merely slipped out, slicing his palm as it slid to bottom of the tub with a small clink.

He lied there. Time had passed, but he didn't know how long it's been. The broken boy eventually curled up, attempting to place himself in a fetal position. He was unable to. His limbs just felt  _so heavy._  He lied there, on the bottom of the bathtub. The streams of water pouring over him. The seething hot water eventually gave way to a cold spray.

Alone.

He was once again alone.

He swore that it won't change; he knew that nothing would change.

They leave. They always leave. It doesn't ever change. Not only that, but  _he,_ Tsuna himself, wouldn't change. How could he? He was cursed to live in this cycle of fear; of depression, anger, frustration, hate, confusion. It was a place that he wouldn't be able to escape. He soon fell unconscious.

Tsuna felt the weight of a blanket on top of his wished that he was able to fall back asleep, but the swishing of air and metal tings had forced him to open his eyes. He looked up and found the blond Varia assassin mindlessly toss the silver knives up in the air-it was as if he was juggling. He stopped as he heard Tsuna groan from the pain he was in.

"You're an idiot. Though, at least you didn't break the Prince's knives, unlike that damn Frog." Bel added. "Oh, the carnivorous peasant is outside pacing. I'll leave you to explain, ushishishi~ bye bii!" And with that, he dashed out of the door as Hibari nonchalantly walked in.

It terrified the young Decimo.

And so, Tsuna began trembling. His pearl colored teeth chattered harshly against one another. Hibari kept his head down, ever so calmly walking to Tsuna's bed. His tonfas were nowhere to be seen. Silence accompanied the two as the skylark sat down atop of his Little Animal's bed. He was at the bottom edge of the brunette's bed. The ravenette all but sighed. His shoulders slumped down in an action of defeat. hibari knew this must be his fault, but he was not there to talk about that. What done is done, and cannot be changed.

"We have a plan," he spoke out into the quiet, tense room. "We are going to go out to find him tonight. The bronco said that Reborn had called him due to your sudden...disappearance." Tsuna flinched looked at at the boy, wishing that his eyes could communicate what he wished to say, unable to put it into words. Sadly this didn't exactly work, seeing as Hibari's cold, stoic irises bored into the younger's. Tsuna squeaked which resulted in a sigh from the prefect.

"I'm leaving. The bronco will take care of you. I must return to Namimori."

"See, dame-Tsuna?", an all too familiar voice rang through the small room from the doorway, "even your Cloud Guardian is leaving you. Some successor you are," the voice spat. Hibari stood up, tonfas at the ready,his position set to defend himself, and the brunette.. A small pager on his side was pressed, so quickly that his movements were a blur.

"You," Hibari commented. Rage and fury were seen in his stance, a dark aura that matched Reborn's began to emit from the skylark.

"Me?" Reborn smirked. "What's this about a plan? Are we finally attacking the Cavallone?" Hibari scoffed loudly.

"As much as the bronco and I have our differences, we both have our the same priorities," he growled lowly.

The Sun Arcobaleno chuckled evilly, "you mean that you both wish to court Tsuna? Have the weak, useless being under your control. Dino has a reason, even if he believes that he does love that pathetic lump, while you don't. If Dino were able to swoon my useless student, it would only mean more power to the Cavallone famiglia," the infant explained. "I'm sure he would be ordering that waste around, attacking allies, and using him to his advantage." Reborn smirked.

Hibari's eye narrowed in anger, disgust and not a single drop of mercy could be seen in his eyes. "I will enjoy biting you to death, herbivore," he tone cold as ice.

"Do you really think you can stop me, you weak, sad excuse of a Cloud Guardian? Even Daemon Spade was a better Guardian than you will ever hope to be," the hitman exclaimed, his voice calm and level. "The Cloud is supposed to be ever aloof, paving it's own path and not becoming attached to anything. yet, here we are, your feelings for Tsuna ever so obvious, but being as oblivious as always, he doesn't quite get it," he scoffed. Hibari fell silent, trying as hard as he could not to allow the other's word to truly harm him. he kept his harsh glare staring at Reborn. Where are the others...?

"This is the mafia," Reborn continued to explain. "There is no such thing as emotions here," he snarled.

Before Hibari could leap to attack, a sudden attack came from behind the hitman, who was so intent with breaking Hibari that he didn't realize others were around. He didn't pay attention to the way that his pacifier began to glow, or the creaking footsteps, or even the whimpering and widening of Tsuna's eyes.

It all happened in a moment.


	9. Chapter 9

The room that was as large as a grand ball room became engulfed in complete and utter entropy. Knives streamed by Reborn's left ear, slicing one of his infamous curly sideburn off. Illusions began to surround him, all of the people that he killed. That didn't bother him that much, as he had no remorse, but the cursed hitman was angered to say the least at the loss of his curl. A familiar laugh filled the room, along with the stomping of feet, the cracking of a whip, explosions, and shouts. Smoke soon filled the room and tsuna immediately knew that Gokudera was there, and where Gokudera went, Yamamoto was bound to follow close behind.

"VOOIIII, BRAT!" A voice boomed through the large room, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SWINGING THAT SWORD!" Yeah, Yamamoto was also there.

Gunshots rang through the room, one, two, three.  _Boom, boom, boom_!  _Bang_! It was chaos on top of chaos and all Tsuna could do was shiver uselessly in his hospital bed, the covers pulled over his head, eyes squeezed shut, and hands covered over his ears. Loud screams of "extreme", "voi," "scum", "trash," "bastard", and "peasant", were heard, albeit muffled. The rest of the Arcobaleno soon joined the fight, along with Lussuria. Lussuria's box animal, his peacock, soon shined bright light onto the ever murky and smoke filled room. It wasn't healing anyone, at least not quite yet.

Colonello's battle cry penetrated Tsuna's ears as the other was dropped by his hawk onto Reborn. With as many enemies that were ganging up to defeat Reborn, it was still difficult to capture the other. Tsuna felt something scale-like slide across his hand. Before he could let out the scream that was bubbling in his throat, one of his eyes squinted open. In front of his face was none other than the green chameleon, Leon. Leon stared at Tsuna and his reptilian tongue flicked out to lick the boy across his pale cheek. The small shape-shifting animal turned into a card, which had Tsuna shift from his position in order to tentatively reach out and grasp it. He opened the card with hesitation, not knowing what to expect from his tutor-from-hell's pet. Inside the card where two words.

" _I'm Sorry."_  It read. As soon as Tsuna read the words, he was confused, but his mind that was processing a million different things a minute soon came to realize that the reptile was apologizing for all of the times that he had to transform into something that allowed his owner to cause harm to the small boy. Before he could remain in a state of shock, Leon began to change in his hands. Soon, a map of the Cavallone estate was in his hands. Not only that, but a thick, red line was drawn, which the Decimo figured was an escape route.

The brunette slipped out of the bed, a pair of white shorts and his orange sweatshirt on him, and slowly began to head towards the exit. He gave out a "hieee" when a piece of dynamite came rolling his way, but as soon as he realized that it was unlit, he quieted.

Slipping out of the room, and into a dark corridor, Tsuna followed the Leon map. Taking one careful step after the other, the Decimo soon made his way to a seemingly safer location. He wandered into a brightly lit room, walking towards the large, stained windows. Next to the windows, laid atop of a mahogany desk, were his mittens. The brunette immediately slipped them on, relishing in the familiar feeling of wool against his skin.

Whack!

A hard kick aimed at Tsuna's head sent his small body flying. In an instant, his instincts, as well as his Dying Will kicked in. The wool mittens that covered his fists had now transformed into the metallic looking gloves. He sighed and slightly trembled when he saw who it was that kicked him. Standing in front of the terrified Decimo stood Reborn, but not just a normal Reborn. No, of course not. Standing in front of Tsuna was a very adult Reborn. A large and smug smirk was placed proudly on the raven headed hit man's face.

"Why?" Tsuna questioned him; he needed to know why Reborn had down all that he had down. He needed to understand.

"Chaos," he told the other, his smirk widening. "I was assigned to teach you how to survive in the mafia, and in order to do so, I didn't hold back. If you could handle me, which would most likely never happen, then you will be able to handle anyone." He explained further.

Tsuna scoffed, "ever heard of positive reinforcement?" He retorted. The hit man's smirk faltered for a second. That's when he realized that his student wasn't going to back down this time. Tsuna didn't realize the change in his demeanor. The decimo wanted this torture and this constant worry to finally end. He lunged, the flames emitted from his gloves propelling him at impossible speeds. Reborn took out a glistening black pistol. He shot once, twice, three times in a rapid succession. The boy appeared in front of him. Unharmed.

Held between Tsuna's fingers were the three bullets that were fired, encased in ice. "Trying to assassinate the Decimo?" He questioned with his eyes ablaze.

Reborn looked at the other, obsidian eyes shining from the intensity of the light that emitted from Tsuna's Dying Will flames. "It wouldn't be the worst thing I've done," he admitted casually, a chuckle escaping his lips. Tsuna grabbed the scruff of Reborn's dress shirt, his gloved hand's flame dimmed considerably. Tsuna didn't want to hurt Reborn, but he also didn't want to get hurt himself.

The raven headed hit man had a grin on his face; it held malice and something that was akin to pride. "Gonna kill me, Stupid-Tsuna?" He taunted. "I wouldn't blame you if you did, you know."

Tsuna stopped to think. His tutor wasn't even trying to fight back. "No." The Decimo answered, "I'm not going to kill you," he explained, letting go of the man, and pushing him back. The fedora the larger man was wearing fell off. Reborn seemed to look a bit disappointed.

"Not going to change that, huh, Tsuna?" He told the other, dropping all of his taunts. Bending down gracefully, he reached down to grab the hat that had fallen off. "Well, anyhow, my work here is done." Reborn spoke, straightening out his suit.

The Dying Will flame upon Tsuna's head began to flicker out, "wh-what?" He stuttered out in question. Reborn gave a sigh, looking at the other.

"You are too much like Primo," he spoke with a shake of his head. "You will make a fine Decimo. The Vongola will rise more than ever. My work is done. Send out a word for me if you ever need anything. I'll come back; promise I won't be the demon tutor you know me as. However, for now? Good bye, Vongola the Tenth." Tsuna stared, his mouth agape at the words Reborn had just spoken. He didn't have enough time to react as Reborn walked over to the window, jumped over the edge, and disappeared into the night, but before he did he looked over his shoulder speaking a few more words. "Give the skylark a chance; he loves you."

Tsuna didn't know what to do. His brain was still trying to catch up and process everything just happened. He slowly sunk to the floor, Leon crawling over toward the boy, climbing up his aide and nesting on the fluffy brown mass of hair on the boy's head. He just sat there. The teen didn't know how long he stayed there before a very aged, twenty-five year old Lambo sauntered into the room. "Oi, young Vongola," he called out, s,light surprise in his voice. "Everyone is looking for you."

Tsuna looked toward the voice; what was labo from twenty years in the future doing there? Consusion flashed on his eyes and adult Lambo saw it. The dark hair that had grown long, no longer in a curly afro, shook out of his face as he began to walk toward Tsuna. The duster swished behind him, flaring out as he walked. "Bazooka malfunctioning," the deep, older voice explained. "C'mon before your husband murders everyone." He muttered out lowly, but Tsuna caught it.

"H-husband?!" He screeched out. It was useless, because it seemed that the bazooka decided that it would send the adult Lambo back to the future, and instead replaced it with a cackling five-year-old in his place.

"Gyahahahaha!" He laughed loudly, "Lambo-san found Stupid-Tsuna first!" He turned toward the decimo, "I want candy for finding you! Lot's of grape lollipops for the great Lambo-san!" He yelled in triumph. Tsuna stood up numbly, still trying to wrap his mind around everything that had just happened. He stumbled behind the skipping cow child towards a large room somewhere in the Chiavarone estate. Leon sat on his shoulder, merely being there for his new owner.

Tsuna entered into the room, taking a deep breath before he did so. All he heard were shouts, arguments, and accusations flying around the domed room.

"Find him," a voice spat out. If one were to take the voice, and analyze the emotions in the simple phrase, one could find concern, longing, anger, and even traces of attraction.

Tsuna stepped in, his small voice breaking through the madness of the room. However, before he was able to, he winced as a voice rocketed throughout the room, yelling at the lower ranked subordinates. "VOI, SCUM!" The voice of the strategy captain called out. "You heard him! Find the brat!"

"I'm right here..." Tsuna murmured quietly.

Multiple yells were heard as the large group turned around, just to see the boy fall unconscious.


	10. Chapter 10

Tsuna groaned as he awakened to the harsh light of yet another strange room. Though, this one was familiar. He looked to the side, noticing the small room and the chilled air. Though, even though the air was cold, Tsuna wasn't freezing, no, actually, he was quite warm. The boy attempt to move, but found himself unable to. Wait...Tsuna looked around, sleep clearing from his vision, this was his room! He was back in Namimori! Was it just a dream...? Or more accurately so, a nightmare? He tried to move again. Nothing. That's when he realized that a strong arm was wrapped around his waist, holding him firmly against a clothed chest.

It all happened.

But more importantly, who was sleeping in his bed with him?!

The brunette boy wiggled himself around so that he could face the unknown person. A small groan was let out, and the Decimo came face to face with a pale complexion, a beautiful facial structure, and messy, ink black hair. "Hibari-san..." He whispered, unconsciously smiling a bit. His breath splashed across the other's face, blowing the silken hairs in different directions. Finally realizing his predicament, Tsuna was about to shriek, but then he remembered the time when he had shared the hospital room with the prefect. He froze. Hibari shifted slightly.

"Your breath smells."

Tsuna would have laughed if it was any other situation, but hearing such a statement come from a half asleep Hibari, the demon prefect of Namimori, just left him utterly shocked, and honestly, a bit confused.

"What are you doing here? I thought we were in Italy?!" The younger boy exclaimed in question.

"Bronco had us leave. He didn't enjoy the fact that I would attack anyone that came near to you."

"..."

Hibari didn't open his eyes once, merely resting peacefully until it was disturbed by a laughing cow child. The older teen growled.

"Bahahahahaha! Stupid-Tsuna is finally awake! Lambo-san is hungry! Make him food! Make him food!" The five year old yelled in glee. "Lambo wants candy, too!" The afro-headed child jumped up on the bed.

Hibari moved this time, pushing the cow child off of his partner. "Mine," he hissed to the annoyance, who in turn began to cry.

"Gotta...stay...calm!" He cried, "waaaahhh! I can't!" He stood up, Out came the signature purple bazooka. Before Lambo could use the weapon, Hibari snatched it away from the child.

"Not. Again." He hissed out. He's been to the future too many times for his liking. Lambo, terrified by the scary head prefect, ran out of the room sobbing, snot running out of his nose. Tsuna winced at the wails he heard.

It wasn't a dream.

This was Tsuna's new reality.

This is his life.

He startled when Hibari turned back to face the brunette, a softer expression on his face while talking to the boy. "School." He uttered, not being much for words. He glanced at the clock. "In twenty-three minutes." Tsuna stared confused. What day was it? Hell, what  _month_ was it? He nodded mindlessly, making sure that the ravenette acknowledged his response, thoughts flying through his head. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he reopened them, the skylark was no where to be found. Wincing as he pushed himself off of the bed, the boy made his way to the closet, thoughts still occupying most of his mind. What was Hibari doing there? Sleeping in his bed, nonetheless? He shook his head, pulling on his school uniform, careful to not look at his disfiguring scars. He sniffled, feeling like a weight was taken off of his shoulders.

He made it to school with many extra minutes to spare and decided to make his way to Hibari's office. Might as well find out why Dino sent them back to Japan after Reborn basically disappeared-not that Tsuna was disappointed or anything.

Wandering the empty halls of the middle school didn't bother Tsuna as he enjoyed the time alone. He had a feeling that things were going to go back to their chaotic ways very soon. A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. Perhaps things will go back to normal, he could deal with some chaos now to distract him from what has happened within the past months. Once he found the door to the Disciplinary Committee, he strolled in, expecting to find Hibari there, but to his surprise, the skylark wasn't there. Shrugging off the discovery, he made his way over to the chair he had sat on when all of it began.

Since he had such a rude awakening due to Lambo, Tsuna decided to test his luck and take a nap in the room that tends occupy a feared, demon prefect.

Hibari walked into his office, a pleasant surprise awaiting him. His Little Animal, curled up on the chair, sleeping peacefully for what seemed to be the first time in months. A small smile graced his lips as he spent the day lounging in his office, every so often moving to sit by Tsuna, stroking his hair and placing soft kisses on the younger's forehead.

* * *

A boy, no, a man, woke up with a jolt from his ever so comfortable bed. The soft, down comforter and the warmth of another body pressed against his worked to calmed his racing heart. His heavy breaths awakened the other who stirred awake with a huff and a groan. The man brought his hand up to his face, only to feel a wetness. He had cried during his slumber.

"Yeah, I think, I think I'm okay." He whispered to himself as the larger male sat up in their shared bed.

"Tsunayoshi?" The smooth voiced asked, concern and confusion laced in it.

Tsuna turned to look at him, Hibari's hands moving up to cup his love's face. "What happened?"

"Nightmare," the other responded with a sigh before burying his face in the skylark's chest.

"Again?"

"Again." Came a mumbled answer.

"The same one?"

The Decimo nodded into the firm muscle, moving to allow himself to comfortably be held by Hibari's strong grip.

"It still gets to me," he mused with despondency, "but that was  _years_ ago. Why would it be bothering me again? Now all of a sudden?"

Hibari hummed, running his fingers through his Little Animal's soft and spiky hair. "Haven't you noticed? It's been ten years since." He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be observant?" He teased, which resulted with a light slap to his bicep and a pouting mafioso. "Just a few weeks ago, I disappeared for five minutes."

"Wha-? But how?"

"The bazooka. That's how I knew that it's been that long." Tsuna nodded at the explanation. He still felt bit numb, having to relive such experiences through his subconscious weren't exactly his idea of fun. He was broken out of his thoughts by his Cloud Guardian's voice, "you did it, my Little Animal," he cooed, "you survived."

Tsuna looked up, a small smile gracing his lips as his chocolate orbs stared into sleet grey irises. Leaning up, he placed a kiss on the others lips, long, slow, and filled with absolute love and admiration. "I love you, Kyoya," he whispered against the others mouth once the kiss was broken.

"I love you, too, my Little Animal."

Hibari laid back down, intent on sleeping more. He was still a little bit (read:  _a lot_ ) of a demon lord when awoken before he was needed too, but his Tsunayoshi was the exception. He would do anything for the petite mafia boss. Tugging the sky down, he closed his eyes, arms wrapped around the other tightly, holding him close. Tsuna traced little circular patterns on Hibari's stomach as his head laid on the chest of his. Soon, they both drifted off to sleep once again, the rest of the night, Hibari held his Little Animal, waking every so often to check on the steady breathing of his loved one during his sleep. A small smile graced his lips.

He thought about the chaotic situation that had happened ten years ago. He's not saying he liked it, because it brought him so much pain and sadness and grief, but if it weren't for that fateful day in the bathroom, while he was patrolling the school to make sure everyone was in classes, then he wouldn't be holding the boy who caught his eye way back then. He smiled, closing his eyes once again to fall back to sleep.

Man. Hibari Kyoya was so whipped.

_Fin._


End file.
